With Notre Dame getting blown out in the playoffs, it got me thinking how ND really should have played Clemson in the ACC title game instead. Which got me thinking what kind of rules you would need to get Notre Dame to join the ACC, which got me thinking what kind of rules should all conferences have if they want to have division-less conferences and still have a CCG.
So these are the rules I came up with if a conference wants to have a CCG without divisions.
1. Conference must have a minimum of 10 members
2. Every member must play a minimum of 6 conference games each year. (The Big Ten would require 9 conference games)
3. Every member must play every other member at least once every 3 years. (The Big Ten would probably set it up so that everybody plays everybody at least twice in 4 years.)
4. The conference will decide which 2 teams go to the CCG. (The Big Ten would probably select the 2 teams with the 2 best conference records)
With these rules in place, I could see Notre Dame agreeing to join the ACC in football. The ACC would still require all other members to play 8 conference games, but Notre Dame would get an exception and only have to play 6 conference games. The ACC would probably have to pick its top 2 teams based on CFP rankings.
