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SB Nation Reacts: Is the focus on conference games here to stay?

Fans want to keep marquee out of conference opponents on the schedule.

By Melissa B. Triebwasser

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NCAA Football: Texas Christian at Purdue Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NCAA. Each week, we send out questions to the most plugged in TCU Horned Frogs fans, and fans across the country. Sign up here to join Reacts.

As the start of the normal college football season draws closer, schools and conferences are still scrambling to put together a 2020 schedule.

Wednesday, the Big Ten released conference-only schedules for all 14 teams. Other leagues have made similar decisions, or at least dramatically cut back on non-conference games. Fans, however, hope this is a one-year trend.

According to results from the most recent SB Nation Reacts survey, more than half of NCAA football fans don’t want schedules to focus on conference games beyond this season.

This is likely true for TCU fans specifically, who have traveled well historically and are looking forward to fun future matchups in desirable locations, including Colorado and Stanford of the Pac 12 and ACC teams like UNC and Duke.

While focusing on conference games was a relatively easy fix for most teams, not every school had that option. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish, notoriously independent, instead came to an agreement with the ACC for the 2020 season.

Notre Dame competes in the ACC for other sports, but has remained independent for football. This year, however, they have agreed to an ACC schedule. Nationally, fans hope this becomes the new reality going forward. More than two-thirds of fans said they hope Notre Dame stays in the ACC permanently.

ACC fans specifically were even more in favor of the concept, 88% of fans from ACC schools voted in favor. Notre Dame had long been linked to the Big Ten. But 59% of Big Ten fans are still in favor of the midwestern team staying in the ACC.

On the other side of things, Notre Dame fans dramatically disagree. Nearly 90% of Notre Dame fans think the team should again be independent after this season.

To vote in the Reacts surveys and have your voice heard each week, sign up here.

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