Notre Dame is leaving the Big East. The new home for the Fighting Irish, for all sports but football, will be the Atlantic Coast Conference. As part of the agreement the Irish will play five football games annually against ACC teams. Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said in a statement that the Irish will also have access to the ACC’s non-BCS bowl tie-ins.

The move allows the Irish to maintain football independence, while the ACC is making an exception to its all-or-nothing requirement for schools to be full members.

Along with inviting Notre Dame, the ACC also says it has increased its exit fees for the conference’s schools to three times the league’s annual operation budget, which would currently come to more than $50 million.

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