Should Notre Dame be at a conference?

For decades — as five- and six- and seven-win seasons became the norm — Notre Dame was told it would never again be a national contender unless it joined a conference, preferably, it seemed, the Big Ten.

Critics argued that there was not enough money as a freelancer; Big Ten teams get more guaranteed revenue, even with the Irish having their own NBC deal. Likewise, there wasn’t enough schedule stability or marketing power for recruits, who seemed to flock to league brands, especially the SEC.

Independence was tired thinking, a holdover from the 1960s, 70s and 80s, when Notre Dame still used to win. Until that changed, they would never return to glory, or so the theory went. The Irish could pretend they were special, but the reality was in the record (just three 10-win seasons from 1994-2014).

Much of this was said by people who didn’t understand college football, let alone Notre Dame’s unique rationale for keeping to itself. So even as Brian Kelly turned the Irish into a great program again with a BCS title game and two four-team playoff appearances, the chirping remained because, yes, the blowouts still came eventually.

Now, though, Marcus Freeman has Notre Dame (13-1) as good as ever — 1.5-point favorites in Thursday’s national semifinal against Penn State (13-2) down at the Orange Bowl.

And suddenly independence is not an anchor to success, but … an unfair advantage?

“This is no knock on (Freeman) or Notre Dame, but I think everybody should be in a conference,” said Penn State coach James Franklin, who talked about how his team has played an extra game (about Big Ten title) than the Irish. . “I think everybody should play a conference championship game or nobody should play a conference championship game. I think everybody should play the same number of conference games.”

Well, this is a switch.

Everyone can be independent if they want. Penn State was one of the last major holdouts, not joining the Big Ten until 1993. They got a lot of stability and guaranteed money. What they haven’t produced are the 1982 or 1986 national titles when they were indies under Joe Paterno. Maybe that will change this year.

Franklin is not entirely wrong, of course. The uneven leagues and different number of games are the quirks of the sport. Losing a conference title game is a double whammy in the era of the 12-team College Football Playoff. To win it all, the Nittany Lions would play 17 games; ND would only need 16. (To slightly account for this, the Irish are barred from receiving a top-four seed and a bye.)

And while the Big Ten plays nine conference games, the SEC and ACC only field eight, giving them more scheduling flexibility (ie FCS opponents).

What is fair? Well, when did fairness ever matter in college football?

The Irish clung to independence as much by obstinacy than any possible advantage—though there is some. Every other Irish sport is in a league, primarily the ACC.

Notre Dame is a national university. Its students come from all over the country (Illinois, with about 12 percent of the student body, is the most represented state, according to the school). It has a large presence in the Northeast. It will take its football program everywhere.

Its current arrangement has proved brilliant, if not always successful. Its “conference” essentially plays five games a year against a rotation of ACC opponents, plus annual clashes with USC, Stanford and Navy. That’s their eight games. They fill in the rest.

That allows for an appealing enough home schedule for NBC to give them an exclusive broadcast deal, but also the ability to go anywhere.

Just this year, Notre Dame played in New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Texas and East Rutherford, New Jersey. It matched teams from Florida, Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland and the Bay Area. It’s good for recruiting and alumni relations.

It’s also a lot of traveling and a lot of juggling season to season.

“I look at it like a pro … we’re going to play coast to coast,” Freeman said. “You play on several different teams from several different conferences. You started the season in College Station (Texas), you finished the season in LA And we’re in New York twice.

“We’re really going to see our program as global in terms of a national program, in terms of how we play and the crowd we play in front of.”

He then noted that while the Big Ten is certainly a conference, it is not the familiar family it once was because, with 18 members, it has followed Notre Dame’s coast-to-coast vision.

“It’s not much different than the Big Ten now with UCLA and USC and some of the West Coast teams in it,” Freeman said.

Conferences have become so large that there is little in common, especially in terms of schedules. The SEC’s old scheduling/division system meant a team could go a dozen years between visits to a league campus.

In an ideal world, everything should even out as much as possible, but this is college football. There are 134 teams of all shapes and sizes competing for the same championship. Unless the revenue is shared like the NFL, why should anything else?

For Notre Dame, which has fought through years of browbeating about how stupid it was to remain independent, the current outcry against it is at least entertaining.

Who could have seen this coming during all those 6-6 and 7-5 seasons?