Feeling Lucky Tech? Here Comes the Irish

A longtime football foe joined Georgia Tech in the Atlantic Coast Conference on Wednesday in all but two sports – one being football.

The ACC announced this morning that it had welcomed Notre Dame as a full conference member in most every sport save for football, although the Fighting Irish will play five such games against ACC schools per year.

The Notre Dame men’s ice hockey team will join Hockey East. In other non-football sports, the Irish most likely won’t be able to depart the Big East Conference for the ACC until 2015.

Notre Dame, which has long valued its status as an Independent, becomes the 15th member of the ACC, which next year will welcome member Nos. 13 and 14 in Pittsburgh and Syracuse. More important for Georgia Tech and the rest of the ACC, the addition of Notre Dame solidifies the conference’s role as one of the five college football power conferences while boosting it financial prospects moving forward.

Georgia Tech and Notre Dame have met 34 times in football with the Fighting Irish owning a 27-6-1 series advantage. That tie came in 1980 in Atlanta when a 1-7 Tech team and No. 1-ranked Notre Dame struggled to a 3-3 finish that opened the door for state-rival Georgia to move on to win the national championship. The Jackets did take the most recent meeting in a dominating 33-3 road victory in 2007.

The two schools first met in 1922 and have met every decade since. The school’s men’s basketball teams also last faced each other five years ago with Tech scoring a 70-69 win in the Paradise Jam, in the Virgin Islands.

In a statement released by the Georgia Tech Media Relations Department, Georgia Tech Athletic Director Dan Radakovich said:

“This is truly a great day for the Atlantic Coast Conference and for Georgia Tech. We are delighted to be joined by such a prestigious and respected institution such as Notre Dame. From so many angles, this relationship will enhance the rich tradition of our league and provide new and exciting opportunities for Georgia Tech and the ACC. I know Tech fans and sports fans throughout the region look forward to outstanding competition against the Irish for many years to come.”

So Yellow Jacket fans, how do you feel about the addition of Notre Dame to the ACC and would you like to see the Irish eventually become a full member of the conference?