It probably wouldn’t be a terrible thing if they did. There’s been an explosion of third-tier bowl games, to the point that (counting the playoff games), there are now 47 FBS bowl games.
I imagine that a lot of the early bowls don’t draw great ratings, but clearly enough that all of them get carried on a major network (mostly ESPN).
Update: sure doesn’t sound like ND will be interested in joining the ACC for football any time soon.
“Mystified?” They pushed for a football team that is actually in the ACC.
ND and the ACC are partners. It’s not quite like saying Miami should get in over Duke, but it’s close. ND football, while “independent” is obligated to play 5 ACC games per year - not as much as a conf member, but also no conf champ possibilities. This is the leverage being applied by ND right now (and vice versa). Before all this playoff drama, it was being renewed/negotiated.
The ACC released a statement today too in response:
“The University of Notre Dame is an incredibly valued member of the ACC and there is tremendous respect and appreciation for the entire institution,” Phillips said. “With that said, when it comes to football, we have a responsibility to support and advocate for all 17 of our football-playing member institutions, and I stand behind our conference efforts to do just that leading up to the College Football Playoff Committee selections on Sunday.
Press release wars.
New slogan in the Notre Dame Locker Room:
PLAY LIKE A CHAMPION TODAY
unless you don’t make the playoff, THEN QUIT
Don’t forget to mention Ohio State whiz-bang opponents like Akron, Western Michigan, Grambling, Ohio U., Arkansas State, Youngstown State, Western Kentucky and Toledo, teams that OSU has scheduled for home games and whomped the last four years.
Most or all of the top football programs play losers like this, but let’s not pretend that OSU doesn’t do the same. It also helps having perennial also-rans like Rutgers and Maryland in your conference. Since those teams joined the BIg Ten, OSU has a 20-0 record against them.
Take a look at the NCAA basketball championship. 68 teams with 36 at-large bids and people still bitch about their favorite team not getting in.
The issue isn’t that some teams were snubbed, it is with the committee’s laughably bad reasoning about it.
Bingo.
Notre Dame certainly deserved to be in ahead of Bama. As did BYU, probably.
It’s too bad Auburn couldn’t pull off the upset of the Tide a couple of weeks ago.
I think Alabama, Miami, BYU, Texas, ND, etc all have good arguments to be in the playoffs.
Less certain about James Madison. They played one decent team, Louisville, and James Madison lost. Probably time to rethink the auto-bids.
That game is the gift that just keeps giving. 
I honestly, respectfully disagree on nearly every point. The big boys are going out other way to pay for a couple sure wins every year. (AKA cupcakes)
The little boys are taking a payday, that does not hurt them within their conference.
Win/win but nobody is do it for noble purposes
Not noble. But if they did things differently, there would presumably be more money in it, more interest from the fans, and as a side effect we would get better results in terms of playoffs and determining who the best team is. If instead of playing three cupcakes every year, the SEC, Big 10, ACC, Big 12, and soon to be revived Pac 12 played each other, there would presumably be more interest in the games. Surely there would be more money in it for, say, University of Texas, if they were to play against Ohio State or Michigan rather than Lamar or Incarnate Word. Why not schedule those challenging games, make more money because there would be more spectator interest, and send a cut of that money to the cupcakes?
It’s a win win all around. The fans get a better matchup. The people determining who makes the playoffs have 12 good data points rather than 9 to make their determination. The schools make more money because more people will watch and ticket prices will be higher for UT vs. OSU than UT vs. Lamar. The FCS teams would, by rules in this new hypothetical system, get some cut from the money made by these out of conference matchups between two of the big boys. What’s not to like? The only ones left out in the cold are some alumni / boosters from the FCS schools who have some bizarre desire to watch their team get whooped by the Longhorns, Buckeyes, Sooners, etc.
Sending money to a school that’s not participating is never going to happen.
As stated earlier, the reason cupcakes are scheduled is because they will agree to a single game series and not require the powerhouse to come visit their school. The powerhouse shares some of the revenue (more than the cupcake would make for a sellout at home), and makes more net revenue than they would with a home-and-home against another powerhouse.
I’ll take your word for it, but it doesn’t make sense. Is there really that much money it for UT or Ohio State to beat up on Sam Houston or Youngstown? Those are the games that, as a fan, at most I’d check the box score and recap the next day to make sure there were no major injuries. I’m not spending money for a ticket or even spending 3 hours of my time on a Saturday afternoon watching those games on TV, even if it’s my team that’s playing. It amazes me that those games are attended or watched by anyone other than the students currently enrolled in those schools or the family members and friends of the players and others directly involved in the game.
Yes. Michigan is working on a 56 consecutive sellout streak. Nebraska has sold out more than 400 consecutive games. Notre Dame had gone 273 games until 2019. Major college programs sell a crap ton of tickets for every single game, regardless of opponent.
Plus:
Major Football Teams didn’t used to play cupcakes a long time ago.
in 1970, Ohio State scheduled two non Conference games, Texas AM and Duke before Bowl season and went undefeated until Stanford beat them in the Rose Bowl. Incidentally they went from #1 to #2 after they won 48-29.
Bama played three non conference foes in the regular season (USCw, Va Tech, and Miami)
Georgia played Tulane, Clemson and Ga Tech
Oklahoma played SMU, Wisconsin, Oregon St, and Texas.
.
In the years up to and including 1970:
Texas A&M was 3-7, 3-7, 2-9
Duke: 4-6, 3-6-1, 6-5
SC was actually a good program back then, but Va Tech and Miami were both independents and not particularly well regarded.
Tulane was also independent and not very strong:
2-8, 3-7, 8-4.
Wisconsin was very bad: 0-10, 3-7, 4-5-1.
Oregon State was average.
But the bigger point of not scheduling FCS teams is granted.
And Ohio State had a completely reasonable schedule this year.
Not a chance. The people in charge are very experienced and very savvy. They have data and knowledge that is significantly more than we do. What they are doing is maximizing the money.
Florida State, Auburn, UCF, Rutgers and Temple, 5-7 teams all, have also now told the bowls “no thanks.”
Not to worry, a 5-7 team willing to play has been found: Appalachian State. Unfortunately App State plays in the same conference as the last unmatched bowl opponent, Georgia Southern. As a result 6-6 Georgia Southern and 5-7 App State will now reprise their thrilling regular season match-up from November 6 (won by Southern 25-23) in the Birmingham Bowl on December 29.
I’m guessing that good seats are still available.