There is absolutely no evidence that the status quo causes Notre Dame to slide. There is absolutely no evidence that football independence has reduced Notre Dame's playoff access. Getting blown out by OSU and losing to Clemson did that, and no conference championship game could fix it.

Do folks remember that Notre Dame recently played in a championship game as an independent - and that was when there were only two slots. Now those odds are doubled.

Notre Dame's ratings were fantastic as an independent. I just don't understand how a business model that has been successful for 100 years is so easily dismissed without any evidence. If one of my clients told me they were changing their business model based on such a vague fear I'd laugh.