Here's the true deal. Notre Dame is only giving one game it didn't intend to play anyway. It's all a smokescreen to stop the fb schools from talking about a split.
ND has been playing Pitt for 63 years this coming season. They also play Pitt from 2008-2015. This has nothing to do with the BIGEAST; it's a longstanding rivalry.
ND had planned to play one BE team a year in the Meadowlands (NYC area) for their alum and recruiting. This is written into the deal, thereby depriving UCONN AND RUTGERS od any chance of a homegame with ND.
That only leaves ND with one spot to fill. The deal starts in 2009. The Irish AD says he might not be able to get it into place until 2011. If he gets it into place by 2009, it will take until 2017 for Notre Dame to play every team home and away. It could take longer.
The ND AD also made what I considered to be a slip of the tongue when he pointed out that ND's hybrid arrangement with the BE is the only thing that has allowed ND to remain independent in football.
My advice is this: forget the deal. It will never happen unless we don't split. That's the whole reason for the dangling carrot. It's not that good a deal anyway. With the exceptions of Pitt, Rutgers, and UConn, every other team would only get to play ND twice every 10 years. ND will still keep the Pitt and Meadowlands series if we decline because that's what they wanted anyway.
Plan for the split. Force ND into a conference. Let's get some freedom from this 800 pound gorilla and the bb schools. It's time to determine our own destiny.
Just say NO.