Notre Dame is moving to the Atlantic Coast Conference in almost every sport except football, where the Fighting Irish will maintain their status as an independent.

The school's president, the Rev. John I. Jenkins, and athletic director Jack Swarbrick joined ACC commissioner John Swofford and three ACC presidents for a news conference on Wednesday announcing the Irish's move from the Big East.

"I don't think there's out there a better situation than the situation we have," Jenkins said. "The ACC has allowed us to retain a tradition (of football independence) that's so central to our identity in football while we're joining a conference that athletically as well as academically fits Notre Dame perfectly."

The move, first reported by ESPN's Brett McMurphy, means the ACC is making an exception to its all-or-nothing requirement for schools to be full members. Although they will remain independent in football, the Fighting Irish will play five games annually against ACC schools.

Notre Dame is not expected to leave the Big East for the ACC until at least 2014, a source told ESPN's Joe Schad.

Big East associate commissioner John Paquette told ESPN.com that Notre Dame must pay the conference a $5 million exit fee and provide 27 months' notice before leaving. The fee would be significantly lower than those paid by Pittsburgh and Syracuse, which both negotiated $7.5 million settlements to leave the Big East ahead of schedule and join the ACC in July 2013.

The source told Schad that Notre Dame hopes to expedite its exit from the Big East and join the ACC earlier than the 27-month notification period, due to the precedent established by Pittsburgh and Syracuse.

"This is a resilient conference," Big East commissioner Mike Aresco told The Associated Press. "Our football conference is stronger than ever. We lose Notre Dame in basketball, but we remain top to bottom the strongest basketball conference in the country."