Notre Dame football is not in a conference, but the team has an agreement with the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) to play five games per year against ACC opponents. This helps ensure that Notre Dame has a competitive schedule resume year-to-year for poll and playoff contention. However, the football team remains independent, and outside of football, Notre Dame’s other sports compete in the ACC (except for men’s hockey, which plays in the Big Ten) . Notre Dame has treasured and monetized its football independence in a way that few, if any, other colleges could approach, let alone replicate. Conference officials have tried to sway the Fighting Irish toward their leagues for decades, but Notre Dame has stayed independent in football.