It must be noted that the Big East eventually fell apart,
by G.K.Chesterton (2023-05-31 17:39:48)

In reply to: let's not forget  posted by melanzana

Post Reply Return to Arlotta Stadium

Did Notre Dame pay an exit fee to leave the Big East and, if so, how much?

That likely would have been a different outcome had two
by tf86  (2023-06-01 08:47:00)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Things gone differently:

1. The Big East had admitted Penn State when they had the chance (which precipitated Mike Tranghese's "We will rue the day" comment)

2. ND had joined for basketball and olympic sports earlier.

Had Penn State been admitted, I believe the Big East would have added football by the mid-80's at the latest. More importantly, a Big East with Penn State would have been several orders of magnitude better than a pre-Florida State ACC as a football conference. And ND would have only sweetened the deal.