There is no discu sion of forcing Notre Dameto become a member of a conferencein Rickey Henderson Jersey order to take part in the College Football Playoff, executive director Bill Hancock on Thursday.Notre Dame, BYU and Army are the FBS's only independents, and coaches have specifically commented that the Irish should have to join a conference to be playoff eligible.MORE: |"The three independents are perfectly happy being independent," Hancock said. "They have the ability to craft their schedules to fit their needs. If their need and goal is to be in the playoff, then they're in the same boat as everybody else. You better play a good schedule if you want to be in the playoff."The topic has come up at conference media days, but ESPN also has broached the subject in interviews with, ACC, Big 12 and Pac-12 coaches, many of whomshared the opinion that all teams should be in conferences and play in Cliff Pennington Jersey conference championship games.Utah coach Kyle Whittingham went a step further:"Without a doubt I think that's the next big shift in college football, is to standardize or make uniform the number of conference games, conference championships, everyone belong to Yusmeiro Petit Jersey a conference.I think that's the next wave you're going to see, is that will be the big push, much like the NFL. Make things more standard throughout college football."However, Hancock hasa different take."The fact is it's not going to change," Hancock said. "The conferences all have reasons for scheduling and deciding their champions the way they do. It's important to each one of them."Frankly, in the committee room, it wasn't a factor. The committee has the luxury of looking at the full body of work from Oakland Athletics Jersey an entire season 12 or 13 games for each team, irrespective of what conference they're in. Having been in the committee room, I can tell you, it's just not a factor."Notre Dame's independence, however, is a double-edged sword, much the way not playing a conference championship could Tony Phillips Jersey affect potential playoff teams from the Big 12. The Irish's schedule could impre s the committee, but there could be times when not playing in a conference championship would work against Notre Dame."The risks and rewards of conference championship games will always come into play," Hancock said. "I feel the same way about Notre Dame that I feel about the Big 12. It's impo sible to quantify the effect of a championship game because you don't know who's going to win the game."