Morgan Burke responds to Notre Dame heading to the ACC

Notre Dame is moving to the ACC in every sport except football, where the Fighting Irish will maintain their status as an independent.

The move, first reported by ESPN, means the ACC is making an exception to its all or nothing requirement for schools to be full members of their conference. Although they will remain independent in football, the Fighting Irish will be required to play five games a year against ACC schools.

The commitment to five ACC games in football likely will mean some changes for the Irish's football schedule in the future.

Notre Dame expects to play USC, Stanford and Navy, but its traditional games against Big Ten opponents like Purdue are in jeopardy. However, Purdue athletics director Morgan Burke is not so sure.

“I wouldn’t expect today’s announcement to affect us. We have a long-time relationship with Notre Dame involving many of our programs, and we expect it to continue. You have two schools in the state of Indiana with shared values – their close proximity is a mutual benefit when it comes to travel and potential missed class time by the student-athletes – so it only makes sense that we will continue to compete against them.”

Notre Dame has played basketball in the Big East since the mid-1990s. Once Notre Dame joins the ACC, the Irish will face traditional powers such as Duke and North Carolina and will be able to rekindle their rivalry games with Syracuse and Pittsburgh.