Notre Dame sends message by re-upping with Boston College

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

If the Irish is seriously considering a move to the Big 10, they have quite the poker faces.

Don't let the slimeball athletic director at Boston College, Gene DeFilippo, fool you. Notre Dame and Boston College aren't continuing their series because they're both Catholic schools. The Irish are using BC to send a clear message to college football and the Big 10 specifically - we're not going anywhere.

While expansion rumors have been swirling, Notre Dame has continued operating as if they it plans on being independent for a very long time. Earlier in May, the Irish and Miami announced the revival of the "Catholics vs. Convicts" rivalry is likely to be renewed. Though it's not finalized, it's said that the two teams will face off starting in 2012 and play through 2015.

Now just yesterday Boston College announced that Notre Dame and Boston College will play six times from 2011 to 2019. DeFilippo said the two schools decided to renew the series based on the fact that they are the only two Catholic universities playing in the FBS. While that is fine to tell the papers, the truth is this: Notre Dame is using this as an opportunity to let everybody know it is not joining a conference anytime soon.

Signing on for long-term series with two ACC teams is big. One argument fans have had for Notre Dame joining the Big 10 is the fact that the Irish have so many regional rivals within that conference that they play most of their games against the Big 10 and might as well join it. Well, Notre Dame is finding ways to diversify its schedule and let it be known that it is going to play who it wants to play when it wants to play.

This upcoming season, Notre Dame plays three Big 10 schools (Purdue, Michigan State, Michigan), two Pac-10 schools (USC, Stanford), the two other independents (Army, Navy), one ACC team (Boston College), one Mountain West team (Utah) one MAC team (Western Michigan) and one C-USA team (Tulsa). The Irish even got away from signing on with Big East teams this season. In the past, Notre Dame has had an arrangement with the conference in which it has three Big East schools on its schedule. This year Pittsburgh is the only Big East school on the list.

The 2011 schedule already features three Big 10 teams, three Big East teams, two ACC teams, two Pac-10 teams, Army and Navy. Look to 2012 and of the nine games already tentatively scheduled, Notre Dame faces five different conferences (all BCS conferences), plus independents, with a home-and-home against Oklahoma bringing the Big 12 into the fold.

Notre Dame isn't going to make a move unless it has to and right now it doesn't have to. And with the furious scrambling of teams and conferences after the speculation of a Pac-16 now subsiding with no major changes appearing on the horizon, Notre Dame can keep saying to the Big 10, "Thanks, we're good."