Brian Kelly made quite a splash when he pointed out that the new ACC football scheduling agreement will mean fewer opportunities to play Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue. However, what Kelly didn't mention is that Notre Dame already covers the biggest Midwest city - Chicago - pretty well just through home games. Yes, it's true - Big Ten teams tend to fill your stadium and buy up expensive tickets to your games. However, does Notre Dame really have a problem selling tickets?
Then there is the idea of having a national schedule, which playing more teams in your own region can never give you. Look at this map showing Irish away games over the next 3 years:
True, there aren't many games played around the Great Lakes, but look where the games ARE being played - recruiting hotbeds like California, Arizona, Texas, Florida, S Carolina, N Carolina, and Virginia. The new schedule format also puts the Irish into major TV markets outside of the Mid-West, too. Beside Los Angeles and San Francisco (already covered by USC and Stanford), the ACC arrangement adds road games in Boston, New York, Pittsburgh, and the Washington, DC area, and will eventually include Miami and Atlanta as well.
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