Okay, so making it to the playoffs and not winning the National Championship hurts 100x times more than not making it to the playoffs. And who knows this the best? Of course, Marcus Freeman and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Things are already hard for them as they do not belong to any conference. And it looks like it’s high time they thought about changing the status quo.

Playing at the conference has its own perks. At least that would make their ride to the playoffs much easier. So ultimately they would have used their energy and talent reserve to fight for the National Championship title. For Freeman’s squad joining the Big Ten looks to be a sound option. But wait! There are some seeding changes incoming as well. 

Can Notre Dame consider a conference tie-up? 

Marcus Freeman’s program’s administration has made it clear that the Fighting Irish will remain independent as long as they can. However, looks like in the not-so-distant future, the 12-team format would be abolished. In that case, chances reign high for the Big Ten and SEC each to move to nine-game conference schedules. On the Locked On College Football podcast, analyst Spencer McLaughlin along with the guest Tyler Wojciak discussed how the Big Ten would be the most likely league for Notre Dame to tie up. “I love Notre Dame’s schedule this year. I think it’s the Miami game is one of the most high-profile entertaining.” But then McLaughlin painted the other side of the story. “The idea that you know being in the Big 10 might actually get you better access to the playoff than being where Notre Dame is now,” the analyst gave a reality check.

The 2024 schedule has been fairly tough featuring multiple ranked opponents like Texas A&M, and USC among others. So, joining the Big 10 has its own perks. As McLaughlin stated, “Playing the bottom teams in the Big 10 on a rotating basis I think in a given year you could have a schedule in the Big 10 that is easier to get to 9-3 and get in the playoff than whenever they would need here.” Now, let’s take a look at the history.

As the Big Ten and SEC make their demands for the four automatic spots, while ACC and Big 12 get a pair of automatic entries, Freeman’s boys have to finish in the top 14 (or 16). Sadly, they failed to achieve it in five of the 11 years the College Football Playoff has existed. Meanwhile, a new proposal is lurking around the corner.

Is the new seeding proposal in favor of Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame?

While Freeman and Co.’s joining Big Ten might leave the fans curious, here comes another big news. Looks like college football fans can expect some seeding changes in 2025. The previous season’s face-off between Oregon Ducks and the eventual national champions Ohio State had stirred the pot. So, on February 19, Wednesday, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey and Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petiti met in New Orleans for the need for some changes in the College Football Playoff format. They have proposed that the format needs to be reflective of the final rankings and not the auto-bids. 

The current situation has the top four seeds and first-round byes reserved for the four highest-ranked conference winners. However, even the teams who are outside the top four get the pass to be a top-four seed. This eventually grants them the first-round bye. That’s when programs like Texas and Penn State who were in the top four lost their first bye to No.9 Boise State and No.12 Arizona State. Now this decision comes off as a big blessing for Notre Dame. How is it so? 

With bracket expansion to 14 teams (and potentially 16 teams in the near future), Marcus Freeman’s boys would no longer have to panic about being excluded as long as they don’t fail in more than two games.  Plus, if they now carry a strong resume, they will be locked in the top-four seed going by the “straight seeding” model. Also, there will be five auto bids. Two for SEC, two for Big Ten, and three additional auto-bids So, Marcus Freeman’s program will have addition three open slots in which their schedule will still be of great value.

A storm’s brewing in Notre Dame’s camp, and all eyes are on how they’ll weather it.