Sunday Reflections

Notre Dame might have landed a quality running back this week, but unfortunately for Logan Diggs, the week's biggest news came about 15 minutes before he went public with his commitment. 

The ACC announced it would partner with Notre Dame in 2020 as the Fighting Irish would play 10 conference games, but also would be eligible for the ACC Championship Game and the Orange Bowl. 

There have been many hot takes over the last few days, but Notre Dame and the ACC win at the end of the day. It's rare in today's world to see two sides win in an arrangement, but it's not surprising to see Notre Dame be part of it. The partnership also shows the power of Notre Dame as they would have found a way to fill out a schedule regardless. 

Overall, I think the ACC arrangement has been good for Notre Dame. Now, you can argue to about the bye weeks before playing Notre Dame - yet that hasn't impacted the Irish. As Jamie has brought up, Notre Dame is 14-2 over the last three seasons against ACC teams. 

Some may wonder if it's a test run to join the conference in the future, but that's not the case. 2020 has been wild and this is the latest installment. 

That doesn't mean Notre Dame won't join the ACC in the future, but this isn't about making a move. I'm sure there is some valuable data one can take from this season to make a future decision. However, it's going to take a 12-0 Notre Dame getting left out of the College Football Playoff for them to join and I don't see that happening. 

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There could be another scenario in the future where Notre Dame might be tempted to join a conference that has somewhat been talked about over the last two weeks. 

College football moving to a 10-game conference schedule would be fascinating and likely a good move. The pointless games would dwindle, while the fans would get a much better experience. 

As bad as the SEC looks when it comes to its football first mentality, I'm not sure anyone would complain if you saw more SEC football every year. 

You wouldn't see Ohio State start the year playing Florida Atlantic, Cincinnati and Miami (Ohio) at home. 

Now, it would likely limit the chances of Notre Dame remaining independent from the standpoint of teams playing tougher schedules probably wouldn't be as open to playing the Irish. 

Notre Dame could very well remain without a conference, but you'd likely see schedule become softer and would become an even hotter topic if they were to go 12-0. 

Personally, I'd love to see Notre Dame remain independent because I do enjoy the random rivalries and the fun road schedule. However, I do see many benefits to being in a conference. 

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How will recruiting fans at Michigan and Notre Dame wake up next Sunday morning? One group will be happy while the other will likely be a little grouchy as 2021 Clarkston (Mich.) offensive lineman Rocco Spindler‍ will make his decision on Saturday at 6pm. 

It's been a pretty interesting recruitment as Michigan, Notre Dame and maybe even Penn State held leads at points over the last two years. 

There have been a million things written about Spindler, his family and what's going on his mind over the last few weeks. 

I won't pretend to know what Spindler's brain thinks or know everything that he's concerned about in his recruitment. 

I've seen reports of his father being a huge Michigan lean and people taking deep dives into why that would be the case. I'll remain firm in stating Marc Spindler isn't a Michigan lean nor a lean to any other school. 

Spindler's father has kept his son grounded and helped him see through the coaches recruiting pitches. He's been in his son's shoes. I believe he's very aware Rocco is the one who will have to live with the decision for the next four to five years. I think he's like any good father and will be excited to see his son decide on Saturday. 

That said, it's surprising Spindler has kept things so quiet. In today's world of Social Media and access, it's rare to see such an even split on predictions. 

In fact, it's been a recruitment that no one has touched for quite a while considering he's six days from a commitment. 

The ever famous 247 Sports Crystal Ball is 50 percent Michigan and 50 percent Notre Dame. The most recent predictions were made on April 25th from Irish Illustrated's Kevin Sinclair and Bucknuts' Bill Kruelic and both guesses were Notre Dame. 

If you flip over to Rivals, the Irish lead with 67 percent of the predictions. The most recent prediction comes from Buckeye Scoop's Marc Givler on May 14th for the Irish. 

My prediction for Notre Dame was made on January 27th and I've definitely debated changing it since then, but I'm leaving it there as it's too late to change it, in my opinion. I'm fine with taking the L if it's Michigan as it's a pet peeve to see a run of late changes on these things. 

Buckle up. I'm sure it will be a wild week.