Maybe this will open the door to more reasonable scheduling

I'm of the opinion that at least part of the reason ND is undeniably struggling to sell tickets is because we've moved away from games against local schools (not to mention throwing in a MAAC game each year). Say what you will about games against Purdue, Mich. State and Skunkbear U, but their fans always valued the matchup and showed up in earnest when the games were in South Bend.

I relish our independence, but I'd love to see us playing a couple Big Ten games a year. Delany was so classless in how he treated Notre Dame. It looks like Jack wants to rotate the Northwesterns, OSUs, Wisconsins and such through the schedule and I like that. We should be playing Purdue, Michigan and Michigan State regularly. We should also be playing the other Big Ten schools on a less regular basis.

Such an arrangement would be good for both schools. And if done correctly, it wouldn't influence our ability to play major schools in other major conferences.

We need to continue to be a national program - but local games matter.