Column: Is this the year that proves the Irish should join a conference? Still no.
Each season, as Notre Dame becomes further and further removed from the school’s last national championship in 1988 under Lou Holtz, a common argument arises about whether the Fighting Irish should follow the example of nearly all of the other historical independents in major college football and join a conference. Whether the Irish have contended for a championship all season or not, the voices are the same after the team once again comes up short: Notre Dame puts itself at a competitive disadvantage by remaining an independent in football. …