Looks like the Orange Bowl is close to trading the Big East for some good football programs. According to ESPN's Brett Murphy, the home of the ACC champion is close to finalizing a deal that would send either Notre Dame, an SEC or Big Ten team to the Miami Gardens bowl game.

The ACC champion, or another team from the conference if its champion qualifies for the national semifinals, will play annually in the Orange Bowl. How the ACC's opponent will be selected from Notre Dame, the SEC or Big Ten is still being determined.

The ACC and Orange Bowl would have the opportunity to take Notre Dame, if it doesn't make the national semifinals; an SEC team not in the national semifinals or Champions Bowl; or a Big Ten team not in the semifinals or Rose Bowl.

Good stuff, unless of course you are a fan of a Big East program. In that case, this sucks.

For more on how this arrangement should eventually work, check out Frank The Tank's Slant take. Props to the Tank (?) for picking up on this news late last week buried in the Notre Dame to the ACC announcement.