Report: SEC scheduling decision 'further solidifies' Notre Dame's status as independent school

On Thursday, the SEC moved to adopt a nine-game conference schedule beginning in 2026. It’ll require them to schedule at least one ACC, Big Ten or Big 12 opponent every season, and Notre Dame is included in that group.

The Fighting Irish won’t be left out, and their future series with Alabama, Texas and Florida will move forward as planned, with room for more SEC teams on their schedule. ESPN’s Heather Dinich added that the scheduling decision from the conference helps further solidify Notre Dame remaining an independent school in the future.

“Sources at Notre Dame have said the SEC’s scheduling decision ‘further solidifies our independence.’ The SEC will still schedule nonconference games against the Irish, the university still has a committed TV partner, a home for its Olympic sports, and a path to the playoff,” Dinich reported. “Those have always been the keys to independence for Notre Dame.”

As you can tell, Notre Dame wanted to remain independent, and the SEC’s move will continue to allow them to do just that. It’s worked out just fine for the Fighting Irish in the last couple of years, and there’s no reason to think it won’t be beneficial to them in the future, as well.

Moreover, the SEC’s scheduling decision has been a key topic of discussion the last few years, and it became even more important around the College Football Playoff discussion. The SEC and Big Ten have most of control regarding the CFP’s future, and they were at odds about expansion. That’s where the conference schedule came into play.

The Big Ten particularly took aim at the schedule, with On3’s Brett McMurphy reporting the conference would not support a 5-plus-11 format – the five highest-ranked conference champions and 11 at-large teams – if the SEC stayed with its eight-game slate. After Thursday’s news, a Big Ten athletics director told McMurphy the decision “certainly helps” those expansion talks.

The 5-plus-11 model gained support during the spring after a 4-4-2-2-1 CFP format gained traction. That format would see the Big Ten and SEC get four bids apiece while the Big 12 and ACC would get two each. The Group of 6 would get one spot, and three at-large teams would fill out the bracket.

All told, the SEC seems more than satisfied with their decision, and Notre Dame isn’t complaining either. We’ll see how it all works out when the time comes, but it sounds like a great move in theory for the conference and the Fighting Irish.

— On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this article.

Click here to read article