We're Notre Dame And You're Not

•The NBC deal will enable Notre Dame to appease its fans by guaranteeing them 1:30 p.m. starts.

One more thing: Notre Dame says its contract with NBC will not influence its decisions on which bowl bids to accept. The Irish insist that they will adhere to their policy of playing the highest-ranked opponent, no matter which network is televising the game.

All this does little to assuage Notre Dame's critics, who are angry that the Irish exploited their popularity—the three top-rated college games of last season all involved Notre Dame (chart)—so arrogantly. In truth, many of the schools making the most noise are no doubt jealous and would have done the same thing if they had had the chance. At week's end most independents were sticking with the CFA. But one scenario could have the networks taking options before each season on games that look promising. They then would be able to sell off the rights to cable or local stations if one or both of the teams involved falters.

Last Friday, Neinas saved some face by announcing that the CFA, ABC and ESPN had agreed to go ahead with their contracts, albeit at a total of $300 million over five years—a reduction of $50 million. He said he didn't anticipate any more defectors and bristled when asked if the CFA is in jeopardy. "We're here, aren't we?" he said.

Yes, for the moment, but it's conceivable that the CFA may eventually get swept away in a general move toward an open TV season in all sports. So jeer, jeer for old Notre Dame, if you must, but also understand that Joe Fan might benefit from the Irish's power play. As Paul Hornung, one of the school's Heisman winners, said last week, "Money is the name of the game, and people want to see Notre Dame. That's the bottom line. But there's plenty of room out there for football on TV, and I think we've only touched the tip of the iceberg."

[This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]