These days all the talk in college football is focused on one thing… conference realignment. The Big 10 is looking to expand from 11 to 15 or 16 teams and many people think this will lead to expansion from the other power conferences.

The one team that would be at the top of the Big 10’s wish list is Notre Dame. Maybe it is the storied tradition, massive fan base, or NBC television contract. This is why conferences dream at adding Notre Dame as a conference member, in fact the Big 10 reportedly came to the Fighting Irish first when looking for teams to expand their conference with.

Notre Dame responded by giving the conference the cold shoulder and now the Big 10 will most likely seek out other schools to expand with. Yes, the Irish make no bones about it they like their independent status and are not ready to be shackled down to one particular conference.

New football head coach Brian Kelly reiterated those feelings recently, saying that the Irish independence is a part of their rich tradition.

"From my standpoint, being the head football coach at Notre Dame, there's nothing better than being an independent football school," the coach, quoted in the South Bend Tribune, told the crowd at a scholar-athlete dinner.

"I know you're hearing all these rumors about the Big Ten and all these other things, but let me tell you one thing, the history ... the tradition of Notre Dame football is steeped in that independence."

While the thought of Notre Dame joining a conference is a college football conference commissioner’s ultimate fantasy, I just don’t see it happening. There is a certain uniqueness to the Irish being the only college football power that hasn’t joined a conference and I think the Irish fans, coaches, and players enjoy that status.

Brian Kelly said it best when he mentioned that the tradition of Notre Dame is steeped in independence. Notre Dame doesn’t want to be lumped in with other schools instead they want to stay separated and keep their annual rivalry games with schools like Michigan and USC. Also, Notre Dame really plays a mini-conference schedule already every year. Their rivalries with Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, USC, and Navy are annual contests. Those games right there make up for a little less than half of Notre Dame’s entire schedule each season. Finally, Notre Dame doesn’t want to have to share their profits with other schools within a conference system or be a pigeon-holed with a conference’s bowl matchups. As an Independent the Irish have a lot more flexibility with these issues.

That is why Notre Dame will most likely continue to snub any conference that extends an invitation the Irish’s way. Love them or hate them, Notre Dame is rich in college football tradition and a large part of that tradition is their independence. They are not associated with the Big 10, Big 12, or SEC rather Notre Dame is simply associated with Notre Dame and they want to keep it that way.