So now the ACC is just waiting for the paperwork from Notre Dame and we're good to go, right?
Not exactly. But the ACC, which is getting a major blood transfusion from Big East defectors, remains the leader in the Notre Dame clubhouse -- if the Irish decide to give up their precious indie status.
The ACC will continue to do its expansion dance with UConn and Rutgers as the conference's 15th and 16th teams, but Notre Dame is its obvious prime target. Then UConn and Rutgers would have a death-cage match for the remaining ACC spot.
Don't know if you noticed, but the new athletic director at North Carolina is Bubba Cunningham, a Notre Dame grad and former ND associate AD.
Wake Forest president Nathan Hatch is a former Notre Dame provost and history professor. All three of his kids are ND grads.
Duke athletic director Kevin White came to Durham from -- wait for it -- Notre Dame.
Gene Corrigan, a former Notre Dame AD and former ACC commissioner, lives in ACC country (Charlottesville, Va.) and remains a valuable resource.
Those are a lot of dots to connect, but the point is this: Notre Dame will have a safe, comfortable academic and sports haven if it joins the ACC, especially if you divide the 16-team conference into something like this:
North: Notre Dame, Pitt, Syracuse, UConn, Maryland, Boston College, Virginia and Virgina Tech.
South: Duke, Carolina, Miami, Clemson, Georgia Tech, North Carolina State, Wake Forest and Florida State.
Truth is, ND's division is more Big East than ACC, which is what the Irish would prefer anyway. Major parts of their alumni base and recruiting are located in the Northeast markets.
Meanwhile, the Big East is doomed. Notre Dame, which is a member of the league in all sports but football, won't stick around for the wake. Combine that with a possible future change in the postseason football dynamic, and the Irish could be in options mode.