Notre Dame clinches spot in ACC Championship; Wake Forest game cancelled

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will play in their first ever conference championship game in the only season they have been a member of a conference. On Tuesday, the ACC mad an announcement that made Notre Dame’s date in Charlotte (that was all but a done deal) a done deal. Notre Dame’s game against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on December 12 in Winston-Salem is cancelled, which gives the Irish the math edge.

Of course, we can thank Clemson’s Dabo Swinney for his role in all of this. First, Notre Dame beat #1 Clemson in South Bend on November, 7, and then the whole thing with Florida State and the covid-19 tests that ended Tigers vs Noles.

Welcome to being a member of a conference — ridiculous drama and power positioning to help the conference at large. While the Irish are somewhat a recipient of the ACC working an angle to have 2 teams in the college football playoff, it still feels like one giant joke to me.

At the very least, the fun narrative we were all spinning back in August about Notre Dame joining a conference for one year just to win the whole damn thing and then steamroll the trophy — well that’s becoming more and more of the reality. Notre Dame will close the regular season out this Saturday against the Syracuse Orange, in South Bend, for a chance to go into the ACC Championship Game at 10-0 and #2 (or better) in the country.

And just to make sure this crystal clear... Brian Kelly is going to a conference championship game with Notre Dame before Jim Harbaugh at Michigan.