It's not an idea. It's a fact. Notre Dame Football by contract is only permitted to join the ACC if they join a conference before 2026-2027. Nothing is crumbling either due to Grant of Rights signed by all 15 schools through 2026-2027. And the University of Maryland is going to be writing a very large check to the ACC to pay the remaining balance on the Exit Fee owed minus the offset that the ACC is collecting.
You can read the announcement of this if you like.
http://espn.go.com/blog/notre-dame-...s-notre-dame-fighting-irish-at-acc-media-days
What the penalty would be should Notre Dame decide to break this contract was not disclosed. But they are in a contract preventing their joining another football conference.