In the thread below, our ND friends say that last season's "one-time" experience in ACC Football actually hardened opposition, rather than made fans more open to it. Considering that ND had an undefeated regular season, played in a very compelling ACCCG, had an epic home win over #1 Clemson in 2OT on national TV... I'm just curious as to the thinking. Seems like they had a fine time to me! Anyways, trying to think of things from the ND perspective...

1) Traditional Opponents:
- ND did not play Navy (a long time annual feel good story for them).
- ND did not play on the Cali coast (they do this every year by keeping 2 Cali teams on their schedule - USC and Stanford very often).
- ND did not have their annual "Shamrock Series" game in a pro stadium in some region they don't play often.
- ND did not play any B1G teams (tho they only had Wisky on the 2020 schedule pre-COVID)
- ND did play @ BC ("Holy War") and Wiki lists 4 other "rivalries" - FSU, Pitt, GT and UNC
- In 2020, COVID cancelled ND games with Navy (in Dublin), Arkansas, W. Michigan, Wisconsin, Stanford, and USC. (Wake, Pitt, Duke, Clemson, GT and Louisville were already on the schedule).

In summary, ND traded games with Navy, Ark, W Mich, Wisky, Stan and USC for...
USF, FSU, BC, UNC and Cuse. A bit less sexy and certainly less traditional.

2) Home Schedule:
Pre COVID: Arkansas, W Mich, Stanford, Duke, Clemson, Louisville
Acutal (ACC): Duke, USF, FSU, Louisville, Clemson, Cuse

Duke, Ville and Clemson cancel out. So ND traded home games with Ark, Stan and W Mich for FSU, Cuse and USF. In 2020, Ark was 3-7 and Stan was 4-2. Not that FAU and Cuse were world beaters. I'm going out on a limb to say it wasn't about the Home Schedule.

3) Competitiveness
ND was undefeated in the ACC last year, but lost to Clemson in the ACCCG. Both games with Clemson were "Must See TV". Despite the ACCCG loss, ND made the CFP for only the second time.

Had ND played the original schedule, they had a shot at going undefeated - IF their home game with Clemson was played at the same time without Tyler Lawrence. Although, Stanford at home and USC on the road could have been challenges. A 1-loss ND team may not have made the playoffs had the loss been to Stanford or USC.

4) The Actual Games:
Most of ND's games in 2020 were snoozers, with the Clemson 2OT thriller being the obvious exception. Louisville was close, but an ugly 12-7 game. UNC was competitive. Part of that was that ACC teams were down in 2020, but also part of that was that ND was very good. They would have played plenty of snoozers with their original schedule - challenged mainly by Clemson, USC and Stanford. Maybe Wisky, but they were not on their game either in 2020.

Summary:
So what is it? Why did ND fans feel like the 2020 season in the ACC was not something they would want to repeat? IMHO, it comes down to ND fans valuing "tradition" over playing for a conference championship and better access to the CFP. They seemingly would rather pound Navy and Purdue 50 more times than establish new rivalries with teams like VT and NCSU, build on existing rivalries with Miami, FSU, BC, Cuse, Pitt and GT... and take on Clemson in their own backyard. Maybe they value being perceived as "special" - which is nice when their good, but are they really that special to non-ND fans when they are down?

I remember hearing that ND fans were thrilled when they won the ACC Men's Basketball Tournament. That aspect of conference membership apparently is ok, so long as the football team in not involved. I would be interested to hear more from the ND posters on their 2020 experience. I get that games with Wake and Duke don't move the needle. But those two Clemson games were huge. And the idea of earning a bid to a conference title or winning a football conference doesn't do it for ND? Not bashing ND, just honestly curious.

NOTRE DAME 2020 SCHEDULE:
Duke - W 27–13
South Florida - W 52–0
Florida State - W 42–26
Louisville - W 12–7
at Pittsburgh - W 45–3
at Georgia Tech - W 31–13
No. 1 Clemson - W 47–40 2OT
at Boston College - W 45–31
at No. 19 North Carolina - W 31–17
Syracuse W 45–21
Wake Forest - Cancelled
vs. No. 3 Clemson (ACCCG) L 10–34
vs. No. 1 Alabama (CFP Semis) L 14–31