I'll give you credit for creativity but I just don't like the idea of partial schedules in conference play. I think this sort of thing leads to BE style instability, differing agendas etc. The idea posited below though of Duke giving up the ghost and ND joining the ACC is pretty intriguing though.

Quote Originally Posted by Colonel Jessup View Post
I realize Notre Dame has no real reason to join a conference because they have playoff access, the NBC contract, and the BE for all other sports. I think the below scenario represents a small concenssion to football while greatly benefitting all other sports, maintaining revenues achieved through current situation, and possibly increasing the odds at a playoff berth when winning the conference.

Division A:
Notre Dame
Pittsburgh
Syracuse
Boston College
Maryland
Georgia Tech
Miami

Division B:
Virginia Tech
Virginia
North Carolina
North Carolina State
Wake Forest
Duke
Clemson
Florida State


- ACC stops at 15 because #16 would decrease the per-team payout and allows ND to get some type of extra compensation (carefully masked as to not represent blatant inequity) while still increaing the payout of the other members from the existing contract
- Division winners determined by division record
- ND (and everyone) is only required to play division games
- My shot at what the scheduling would look like in a typical year:

Notre Dame - 6 division games = 6
Pittsburgh - 6 division games + VT + UNC = 8
Syracuse - 6 division games + Duke + NCSU = 8
Boston College - 6 division games + Wake + Duke = 8
Maryland - 6 division games + UVA + NCSU + UNC = 9
Georgia Tech - 6 division games + Clemson + UVA + Wake = 9
Miami - 6 division games + FSU + VT = 8

Virginia Tech - 7 division games + Miami + Pittsburgh = 9
Virginia - 7 division games + Maryland + GT = 9
North Carolina - 7 division games + Maryland + Pitt = 9
North Carolina State - 7 division games + Maryland + Syracuse = 9
Wake Forest - 7 division games + BC + GT = 9
Duke - 7 division games + Syracuse + BC = 9
Clemson - 7 division games + GT = 8
Florida State - 7 division games + Miami = 8

Who says no to this? FSU complaints about 9 game schedule and playing northern teams are taken care of here. Clemson given latitutude to schedule two SEC teams OOC along with revenue from two other patsies. Notre Dame football gets to pretend like they are above a conference because half their schedule is OOC. Would the awkwardness of the scheduling outweigh the benefit of bringing in Notre Dame? Would Notre Dame just not want to lose the aura of being independent despite having an arrangement such as this?