With the Big Ten Conference deciding to pursue the possibility of adding a 12th team, there is a perfect candidate right in its backyard - if only that school would change its decades' long resistance against joining a conference.

That school, of course, is Notre Dame, and it would be an ideal 12th member for the Big Ten.

We realize, however, that we are among the small minority of Notre Dame fans who would welcome such a move. Most Notre Dame supporters would rather give up their first-born child than join a conference. Those folks hold on to their antiquated view with a religious fervor, believing that being independent is part of Notre Dame's heritage, part of its culture.

Maybe that was the case in the days of Knute Rockne of Frank Leahy. But this isn't 1946. Heck, it's not 1986, and it's not like Notre Dame's status as an independent has helped the program in the last 15 years.

Think about it. When you're an independent, the only thing you play for is a national championship. If Notre Dame joined the Big Ten - or any league - it could compete for a conference championship. How could that not help recruiting?

Alas, they don't listen.

But look at it this way - Notre Dame already plays a number of Big Ten teams anyway (Michigan, Purdue, Michigan State). Joining the conference would be an easy transition.

The cynics will contend Notre Dame doesn't join a conference because it wants to maintain an easy schedule. That's an unfair shot. Notre Dame doesn't join a conference because it is philosophically opposed to the idea.

Notre Dame needs to change its world view

Will it? - highly unlikely.