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For years, college football fans have been begging for Notre Dame to join one of the established power conference in the sport. Many believed the creation of the 12-team College Football Playoff and subsequent first-round byes for conference championships would be enough to pressure the Fighting Irish to do so.
But they’ve remained steadfast, joining UConn and UMass as the lone independent schools to compete at the FBS level. And now they’re seeing the that decision pay off in a big, big way.
Notre Dame’s run to the semifinals of the College Football Playoff has thus far netted the school $14 million in prize money. The CFP awards money to conferences for each team that qualifies, and that money increases as they advance through the rounds. But because Notre Dame is not in a conference, that money goes directly to the school without having to be split with anyone else.
Notre Dame Is Set To Take Home Massive CFP Payday Compared To Competitors
Margaret Fleming of Front Office Sports reports that the four remaining semifinalists (Notre Dame, Penn State, Texas and Ohio State) earned $4 million for making the playoff, an additional $4 million for advancing to the quarterfinals, and $6 million for reaching the semifinals. Each team that makes the national championship game will earn an additional $6 million as well. That means that Notre Dame alone has earned more than the ACC, Big 12 and Mountain West.
As for the Big Ten and SEC, the former has earned $40 million in prize money via Ohio State, Penn State, Oregon and Indiana while the latter has raked in $26 million through Texas, Georgia and Tennessee. But the payouts will not be the same for all schools. The Big Ten divides its CFP money evenly for all members, while the SEC works on a sliding scale.
Fleming reports that Texas is set to take home $3.75 million as of now, while Ohio State and Penn State will net just around $2.2 million. Those are, obviously, far below was the Fighting Irish have already made.
So like it or not, don’t expect Notre Dame to join a conference anytime soon so long as it keeps winning.