James Franklin Tells Marcus Freeman and Media 'Everybody Should Be in a Conference'

Notre Dame's football program has long remained an independent team.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish coach Marcus Freeman (left) and Penn State Nittany Lions coach James Franklin speak to the media at a press conference ahead of the Orange Bowl on January 8, 2025. / Screengrab YouTube @BTN

As one of three remaining independent college football teams in the FBS, Notre Dame had a much different path to the College Football Playoff semifinal than its Orange Bowl opponent, Penn State.

The Fighting Irish made the CFP as an at-large team, and as an independent, did not have to play in a conference championship. Meanwhile, the Nittany Lions made it to the Big Ten championship game and made the field as the No. 6 seed.

And that's not lost on Penn State coach James Franklin.

During a joint news conference on Wednesday, Franklin and Freeman were asked about how they manage the challenges of the longer college football season in light of the expanded playoff's first year in existence.

Franklin took the opportunity to note the differences between his program and Freeman's, then suggested that every team should be a part of a conference, with the coach of an independent team sitting just a few feet away.

"It should be consistent across college football," Franklin said. "This is no knock at (Freeman) or Notre Dame, but I think everybody should be in a conference. I think everybody should play a conference championship game, or nobody should play a conference championship game. I think everybody should play the same number of conference games."

It wasn't the only time Notre Dame's independence was brought up during the presser. At another point in the news conference, Franklin—discussing the opportunity against the Fighting Irish—said the Orange Bowl was about "representing our schools and our conferences", then corrected himself, saying, "Excuse me, our own conference."

In most of its other sports, Notre Dame competes in the ACC—the hockey program plays in the Big Ten—but the Fighting Irish have a football scheduling agreement with the ACC. First agreed upon in 2014, and running through 2036, the agreement sees the team play five ACC schools per season.

The Nittany Lions and other Big Ten teams must play nine conference games. The Big 12 also schedules nine conference games, while the SEC and ACC remain at eight. Notre Dame has a flexibility with the remaining games in its schedule that other teams simply don't have, all while earning revenue on a similar scale as Big Ten or SEC schools through its negotiated TV deal with NBC.

And the Fighting Irish are in no hurry to change their status. Athletic director Pete Bevacqua in May of 2024 said that Notre Dame leadership feels "as secure as ever" in its football program's independent status.

And Freeman, earlier in the presser, made it clear how he feels about being an independent football program.

"We view being independent as a positive thing," Freeman said. "And we sell it to our recruits and our players as a positive thing. We know we can't play in a (conference) championship game and we can't have a first-round bye. But we continue to use not playing Week 13 as our bye."

Ultimately, Franklin later explained that he calls for uniformity so that the CFP committee can make easier decisions in its selection process.

The Fighting Irish and Penn State will kickoff at Hard Rock Stadium at 7:30 p.m. ET on Thursday.

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