But if there is the ACC/Pac 12 combination, it doesn't hurt ND's "national school" approach.
I suspect that conferences are going to become more and more mute if we move to a 12 team playoff where only 3 conference (For the sake of argument, SEC, Big 10/12 combo, ACC/Pac 12 combo winners are likely to be given "byes." The challenge ND has is keeping some of it's national rivalries (USC/Stanford, etc) I suspect it's a given that Navy is going to have to be dropped (I get the history but no tears here) as they will clearly be dropped into the 2nd tier of what becomes" college football.
Change is inevitable.