In the midst of their first undefeated September since 2004 for the football team, Notre Dame made a decision that will take all of Notre Dame athletics in a new direction. They decided to join the ACC in all sports except football. The Fighting Irish will remain independent in football but will play five ACC schools each year.

The new Notre Dame is a blog created by Notre Dame writer Erin McLaughlin. This blog will feature everything Notre Dame as it makes it's move to the ACC.

The football team will be affected by this move. It has already announced that it will discontinue it's rivalry with Michigan. There is so much history in that rivalry as it was Michigan that traveled to South Bend to teach Notre Dame football.

The Michigan State and Purdue rivalries will also likely fall as well. Notre Dame really desires to keep it's rivalries with Stanford, USC, and Navy. There is always a lot of history with Notre Dame, no matter who they play. That is why there is no program that can compare to Notre Dame.

Yes, Notre Dame has not been a serious contender for a long time, but it is about so much more than that. The ACC itself has schools who have history with Notre Dame. Boston College is often likened to Notre Dame being that they are another school with Irish Catholic roots.

Pittsburgh is another big rival and they will soon be joining the ACC as well.

Notre Dame will renew an old rivalry this week with Miami. This used to be a big game and one that had national title implications in the 80s. It was known as Catholics vs. Convicts. Suddenly, it has that feel again.

The New Notre Dame will report on the new direction they are headed in South Bend.