There is even a relegation idea to it, but the point was to try and keep things as geographically balanced while still retaining conferences with the same number of teams when possible. This lead to others sharing their ideas,

Texas Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian raises the trophy as the Texas Longhorns celebrate their 39-31 double overtime win over the Arizona State Sun Devils in the Peach Bowl College Football Playoff quarterfinal at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, Jan. 1, 2025. Sara Diggins/American-Statesman-USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

On today's episode of The College Football Enquirer, Dan Wetzel, Ross Dellenger and SI's Pat Forde discuss the latest buzz coming from media days at the Orange Bowl. Specifically, they discuss comments made by Penn State head coach James Franklin about Notre Dame football and them needing to join a conference.

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

The loss to Northern Illinois is no longer relevant to Notre Dame. The losses to Ohio State and Oregon don’t matter to Penn State right now. The Irish (13-1) and Nittany Lions (13-2) face off in the Orange Bowl on Thursday night,

Penn State and Notre Dame are set to face off in the Capital One Orange Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal on Thursday with a spot in the national championship on the line, and the sparring has started before the ball has kicked.