Notre Dame Takes the Big East Plunge; Football Still Independent - Spokane, North Idaho News & Weather KHQ.com

Notre Dame Takes the Big East Plunge; Football Still Independent

Notre Dame is taking the ACC plunge, taking its non-football sports out of the Big East and into a new arena of competition.

The school made the announcement Wednesday morning, saying all sports except football will move to the Atlantic Coast Conference. But even football will be impacted by the move. The new agreement guarantees the Irish football team, still an independent, will play five football games annually against ACC programs.

There is not an official timetable as to when Notre Dame will leave the Big East, but USA Today reported the school would have to give 27 months notice and pay a $5 million exit fee. Whether they will be held to the advance notice is in question, as Syracuse, Pitt and West Virginia all left the conference early.

For its part, the ACC said it has increased exit fees for league schools to three times the annual operation budget. That would put the current price tag at more than $50 million.