For decades — when five-, six- and seven-win seasons became the norm — Notre Dame was told it would never be a national contender again unless it played in a conference, preferably, it seemed, the Big Ten.

Critics claimed that there wasn’t enough money to be an independent; Big Ten teams get more guaranteed revenue, even if the Irish have their own NBC contract. Likewise, there was a lack of schedule stability or marketing power for the new additions who seemed to be flocking to league brands, particularly the SEC.

Independence was a tired mindset, a relic of the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, when Notre Dame still won. Until that changed, the theory went, they would never return to glory. The Irish could act like they were special, but the reality was on the record (only three 10-win seasons from 1994 to 2014).

Much of this was said by people who didn’t understand college football, not to mention the unique reasons Notre Dame kept to itself. Even when Brian Kelly turned the Irish back into a good program with a BCS title game and two four-team playoff appearances, the chatter persisted because in the end there were still blowouts.

Now, however, Marcus Freeman has Notre Dame (13-1) as good as it’s ever been – a 1.5-point favorite in Thursday’s national semifinal against Penn State (13-2) in the Orange Bowl.

And suddenly independence is no longer an anchor of success, but… an unfair advantage?

“It’s not a knock against (Freeman) or Notre Dame, but I think everyone should be in a conference,” Penn State coach James Franklin said, addressing his team’s need to play one more game (to win the Big Ten). title) played as the Irish. “I think everyone should play a conference championship game or nobody should play a conference championship game. I think everyone should play the same number of conference games.

Well, that’s a switch.

Everyone can be independent if they want. Penn State was one of the last big holdouts, not joining the Big Ten until 1993. They received a lot of stability and guaranteed money. What they haven’t produced are the national titles of 1982 or 1986 when they were an indie under Joe Paterno. Maybe that will change this year.

Franklin has a point, of course. The different leagues and the different number of games are peculiarities of this sport. In the era of the 12-team College Football Playoff, losing in a conference title game is a double whammy. To win it all, the Nittany Lions would have to play 17 games; ND would only need 16. (To somewhat explain this, the Irish are banned from receiving a top four spot and a bye.)

And while the Big Ten plays nine conference games, the SEC and ACC only play eight, giving them more scheduling flexibility (e.g. FCS opponents).

What is fair? When did fairness ever matter in college football?

The Irish clung to independence out of stubbornness rather than any potential benefits – although there are some. Every other Irish sport is in a league, mainly the ACC.

Notre Dame is a national university. Students come from all over the country (Illinois is the most represented state, with about 12 percent of students, according to the school). It has a large presence in the Northeast. It wants to take its football program with it wherever it goes.

The current deal has proven to be brilliant, if not always successful. Its “conference” essentially consists of five games per year against rotating ACC opponents, as well as annual clashes with USC, Stanford and Navy. These are their eight games. They fill in the rest.

It allows NBC to have compelling enough home programming to give them an exclusive broadcast deal, but also gives them the ability to go anywhere.

Just this year, Notre Dame played in New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Texas and East Rutherford, New Jersey. It competed against teams from Florida, Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland and the Bay Area. This is good for recruiting and alumni relations.

There is also a lot of traveling and juggling from season to season.

“I look at it as a pro… we can play coast to coast,” Freeman said. “You play several different teams from several different conferences. You started the season in College Station (Texas), you finished the season in LA and we went to New York twice.

“We can really look at our program as global in terms of a national program, in terms of the way we play and the audiences we play to.”

He then noted that while the Big Ten is certainly a conference, it is no longer the familiar family it once was because, with 18 members, it has followed Notre Dame’s vision from coast to coast.

“It’s not much different than the Big Ten now with UCLA and USC and some of the West Coast teams,” Freeman said.

The conferences have become so large that there is little commonality, especially when it comes to scheduling. The SEC’s old scheduling/splitting system meant a team could go a dozen years between visits to a league campus.

In an ideal world, everything should be balanced as much as possible, but this is college football. There are 134 teams of all shapes and sizes competing for the same championship. If revenue isn’t shared like in the NFL, why should there be anything else?

For Notre Dame, which has struggled for years with intimidation about how stupid it is to remain independent, at least the current protests against it are entertaining.

Who could have predicted this in all those 6-6 and 7-5 seasons?