David Pollack sees huge upside in Clemson, Notre Dame scheduling agreement

Last week Clemson and Notre Dame announced a 12-year scheduling agreement. The new deal will see the programs take each other on in each year through the 2038 football season.

It’ll be a chance for college football fans to witness a marquee game each year. Analyst David Pollack opened up on what a big win it is for the sport.

“First of all it’s a great thing for us. We win,” Pollack said. “Because there’s more to talk about going into the season. It’s another great game that you’re going to be sitting on your coach and we’re going to be lazy, eating, and it’s going to be fantastic.”

The two programs have met a handful of times over the years. Clemson currently owns a 5-3 record in the series, but the last four games have been split dead down the middle.

More than anything, though, Pollack noted that this new series will help mitigate a big problem for the ACC. Especially in the new College Football Playoff landscape.

“There’s multiple sides to look at with this. I’m excited about it. I want to see it,” Pollack said. “If I’m the ACC and I’m building my case as I continue to move forward, I think the more games I have that are really cross-rivals that are good or against good competition, the league is not near as strong as others. And it will be a problem.

“The Big Ten and the SEC, remember, after this year, right now the Big 12, the ACC, the SEC and the Big Ten run college football. Starting next year, the Big Ten and the SEC run college football. And that’s a different dynamic that’s about to shift and change.”

Pollack explained what that means for the ACC, and Clemson in particular. In an era when strength of schedule is becoming increasingly important to making the playoffs, the Tigers can instantly check off a box.

“So ACC is going to have to do things that are different, and this is a non-ACC game because Notre Dame technically obviously shares the crossovers with the ACC the most, but … I love it. I’m for it,” Pollack said. “Again, I’m going to go back to this before we do the ones we probably want to see. If you want to change the strength of schedule, if you want to change less griping at the end of the year, I’ve been saying this for years and years and years and I’m going to say it again: Every single team needs to play at least one team from another conference for their out of conference. It’s pretty simple.

“If I’m an SEC school, I have an ACC school. I have a Big Ten school. I have a Big 12 school. If everyone does that for their non-conference we’ve got a really good idea of who’s good. We’ve got a really good idea of who’s not that good. We’ve got a really good idea of strength of schedule for a totality of a season. We’ve got more data points, more head-to-head, more common opponents. It would make the process easier and it would be less griping at the end of the season for a lot of people.”

Clemson, for one, will be in the mix of teams that have a better gauge on things now. The series with Notre Dame will ensure that.

That makes it a big win for the sport. And particularly for the viewers, as Pollack noted.