the more things change the more they stay the same for the A. C. C. Here they are on the precipice of extinction. And the answer for new commissioner Jim phillips is the same as it was for the old commissioner john Swofford. Notre dame. You can't make Notre dame love you but you can get Notre dame to save you. Swofford made the best deal he possibly could with Notre dame in 2000 and 13, it was enough to save the league once phillips can't be blamed for the untenable composition of the A. C. C. Or the anvil of a television contract that Swofford has left him. But he is squarely to be blamed for blocking the college football playoff expansion Phillips misplayed his hand badly when he trusted the Big 10. There's a certain irony in there and a big 10 guy being betrayed by the Big 10. Maybe Phillips was a sleeper agent all along. Regardless. Notre dame. A. D. Jack Swarbrick was part of the subcommittee which designed the plan last summer to expand the college football playoff to 12 teams. Swarbrick with sec. Commissioner Greg Sankey made the deal to help themselves phillips made a deal with the Big 10 and pac 12 to try to block the move and assert his authority likely in part because he believes he should be the commissioner of the Big 10. And this was his way of showing the Big 10 that he's really calling the shots, bless his heart. He called the verbal agreement. The alliance asinine would have been more apt the A. C. C. Is currently being held together by a legal document which is only one team of smart lawyers away from being worthless phillips's only play to save the A. C. C. Is to go back to Swarbrick and get the playoff expansion deal back on the table. He will have to make concessions to the irish and ask thank you for mercy. The alternative is the end of the A. C. C. It's an easy choice. If you think about it, that is your shot at joe to go. Don't make another deal with the big 10 and throw it away.