Notre Dame to Participate in ACC Football Season in 2020

Notre Dame's quarterback Ian Book in 2019. Photo by Andrew J Kramer/CSM/Shutterstock (10514070z)

The Atlantic Coastal Conference announced its plans for the 2020 football season on Wednesday, including a surprise announcement of a team which will take part in the conference slate for the first time in its history.

Notre Dame, one of the top programs in the history of college football, has traditionally played as an Independent throughout its program’s tenure as a college football powerhouse. Nonetheless, in what promises to be an atypical 2020 season, they have been temporarily allowed to join the ACC and take part in its conference’s schedule.

The move was necessary for the Fighting Irish, who would have found it extremely difficult to make a schedule as an Independent due to the fact that many conferences are choosing to have a conference-only schedule or a schedule that only allows for one out-of-conference matchup.

Notre Dame is expected to be a College Football Playoff contender, coming in between 8th and 12th in most preseason rankings.

The ACC announced on Wednesday that each team would play 10 conference games and would be allowed only one out-of-conference game. The top two teams in the entire conference will square off in the ACC Championship Game in mid-December in Charlotte, North Carolina.