Notre Dame has a fine record under Brian Kelly. I'd be glad to have that record over the same time period, just as Notre Dame fans would love to have had Tech's record from about 1995 to 2005.

But the biggest championship Notre Dame has won since 1994 is the Citrus Bowl a couple of years ago. If winning championships was important to Notre Dame, it would probably join a conference where it could and likely would win one from time to time. Or it would find a coach who is somehow better than Kelly (good luck), or restructure its program to the way it was in and before the tenure of Lou Holtz. The original question posed was whether winning an ACC championship would make a difference in how Notre Dame views conference affiliation; my answer - which is ultimately the same as yours - is that it would not. And though you may differ with me, one of the reasons is that there is absolutely no evidence that Notre Dame really cares about championships. Notre Dame wants to sell the school, and having a prominent program that plays marquee games against schools from all sections of the country is one of the ways it has done it - and it has done it well. It works for Notre Dame and not for BYU because BYU lacks the history and marketability of the Irish.

I get why Notre Dame fans prefer an independent schedule to a schedule against schools in a basketball-centric conference. I'd prefer to see a heavier rotation of brand name schools like Georgia too, but most Tech fans have grown accustomed to a conference schedule over the last 30 years. But it's not like Notre Dame plays a murderer's row every year. It's great that Notre Dame can afford buy games against low level FBS schools instead of dipping into the FCS ranks, but is there really much difference between New Mexico or Ball State and, say, James Madison or Richmond? It's not like Notre Dame ever takes a chance of playing a motivated G-5 school like ECU or MTSU or Marshall on the road. I have grown to accept Notre Dame's place in the ACC, if only because it is more equitable than the relationship it had with the Big East in the past. But I do grow weary of those who think Notre Dame's schedule is like playing a round robin of the SEC West every year.
[Post edited by Tailgate Guru at 10/25/2020 11:54AM]