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DANIA BEACH, Fla. — It was some combination of religion, a grudge involving Knute Rockne and a rival, and maybe the simple time-honored notion that some people just don't like Notre Dame. Back in the 1920s, the Fighting Irish made what might have been their biggest push to join what would become the Big Ten but the athletic director at Michigan blocked it. Ever since, Notre Dame has been an independent — an exceedingly rare iconoclast in a college-football space that becomes more controlled by mega-conferences almost by the day.
