Will Notre Dame join a football conference? One analyst says it will

Notre Dame has been adamant that it wants to stay independent in football, even despite rumors and speculation it would join a league amid the recent historic phases of college football conference realignment and expansion.

But the Fighting Irish may have to change course in the future given the current landscape across the sport, especially in the expanded playoff format, according to long-time college football analyst Paul Finebaum.

"I ultimately believe that Notre Dame has gotten away with this for a long time," Finebaum said during his appearance on WJOX in Birmingham.

"I can't imagine, long term, that they will, and I'm talking five, six, seven years down the road. At some point, they're going to have to make a decision."

Notre Dame has a voice in the structure of the expanded playoff, and more of a chance to qualify even the expanded format, but not being in a conference could make the path to a national championship harder as a result.

By not being eligible to win a conference title, and thus not able to take advantage of a first-round bye afforded to conference champions, the Irish would have to win four straight postseason games in order to get a crack at the natty. And that's after playing through a 12-game regular season. 

But teams that win their league titles are set to receive first-round byes in the expanded College Football Playoff in 2024 and 2025, and are expected to do so again if the playoff expands in 2026 and beyond.

"Five to 10 years from now, I'm not sure the exact number," Finebaum said, "I strongly believe that Notre Dame will finally say, 'Enough is enough. We're getting into a conference.'"

(WJOX)