Ohio State Football: Gene Smith trying hard to bring Notre Dame to the Big Ten

The Ohio State football team will open its 2022 season against Notre Dame in the Shoe on September 3rd. It will be a non-conference game and the first time these two teams have played in the regular season since the early 90s. If Gene Smith had his way though, this matchup would soon be played as a conference game in the Big Ten.

Smith, a Notre Dame alumnus, spoke to Morning Juice this morning on 97.1 and talked about how he is trying to get his alma mater to join the Big Ten. He said he’s talked to Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick about a number of things to get them to join a conference.

Smith also mentioned how he thought the kids at Notre Dame should get a chance to play for a conference title. “I think it’s incredibly unfair for the kids that they don’t get a chance to play for a conference title.” Smith acknowledged that they get to play for a chance at a national title some years, but not a conference one.

There were a number of points that Smith said he had talked to Swarbrick about. He mentioned the chance to keep that rivalry with USC alive in the Big Ten, being able to bus the Olympic sports to a number of programs in the Big Ten as opposed to flying them out east every time, and the financial upside as well.

After mentioning the boost that Notre Dame could get financially, he acknowledged that it’s not really about the money for them. They value their independence and have a lot of tradition doing so. Smith mentioned he’s not sure what they will do or if they’ll ever join a conference.

It remains to be seen if the Ohio State football team will ever get to play a Big Ten game against Notre Dame, but Smith is going to try like hell to try and make it happen.