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CLEMSON -- During an offseason of realignment hysteria, Notre Dame is the power broker that holds all the cards.
And then the season starts and the Irish transition into a house of cards.
That last part is probably unfair, or at least premature. Marcus Freeman's first team still has some time to turn its season around, some opportunity to bag some high-profile game with this week's trip to Syracuse, next week's home date with Clemson and a visit to USC to close the regular season.
But not even the most die-hard Notre Dame fan can examine the remaining slate and get all that jazzed about the opportunities; last week, Notre Dame Stadium was not sold out for the first time this season as the Irish took on a bad UNLV team and actually struggled some before winning 44-21.
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If there were good vibes toward Notre Dame when this part-time football partnership was conceived, it's safe to say most of them have dissipated.
A sweetheart deal for the Irish became even sweeter in 2020 when the ACC gave them a lifeline in the form of one season of full-fledged football competition.
Now, two years later, everyone waits on the edge of their seats as Notre Dame decides where it wants to place itself in the new superconference era.
The aura of collegiality among schools everywhere has been devoured by the pursuit of dollars in this cutthroat game, and that's really no surprise given the former revenue streams that have turned into oceans.
