Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua continued to declare his sense of bewilderment over the College Football Playoff committee’s decision to leave the Irish out of the CFP in a Tuesday press conference.
“We did everything we needed to do. We had one of the most dominant 10-game runs in the history of college football. And on top of that, we felt that the CFP committee — the ranking committee — felt the same way,” he said.
Bevacqua repeatedly voiced his frustrations with the Atlantic Coast Conference’s treatment of Notre Dame in the weeks leading up to the committee’s eventual decision on Sunday.
“What we were really surprised by and disappointed was how the ACC conference really went on a social media campaign, in my opinion, attacking our football program,” Bevacqua said.
He’s referring to several posts by the conference that seemingly advocated for Miami to be selected over Notre Dame. In one instance, the ACC posted a graphic of two mystery teams — a not-so-subtle reference to Notre Dame and Miami — with the caption “Team A or Team B? Let’s look at the facts,” followed by a list of metrics that appeared to favor the Hurricanes.
In the week before the final rankings show, the ACC Network re-aired the Miami-Notre Dame game 13 times. Bevacqua said he half-expected an apology from the conference immediately after the campaign began, not believing the ACC would resort to these tactics.
“We made our feelings known that we didn’t particularly understand this, and it just kind of puzzled us that a conference that’s home to over 600 of our student-athletes walking around this campus today chose to go down that road,” said Bevacqua.
Bevacqua was especially critical of the ACC’s logic due to the benefits the University brings to its business model.
“ACC games sell out roughly 23% of the time. When Notre Dame goes to an ACC site, they sell out 90% of the time. When you think about ratings for ACC football games when they play against Notre Dame, there’s a tremendous lift.” Bevacqua said.
Nearly all of his comments reaffirmed rhetoric he has made since the decision to drop the Irish from the playoff was announced. On Monday, Bevacqua went on a national media blitz, including appearances on “The Dan Patrick Show” and “Wake Up Barstool” with Dave Portnoy. IBevacqua mentioned in those interviews and today that he was “mystified” by the selection committee’s decisions.
Bevacqua also shared an update on the future of head coach Marcus Freeman. With several rumors circulating that the New York Giants are pursuing Freeman’s services, Bevacqua made it clear that the University has provided the highly-touted coach with everything he needs. He said Freeman’s contract is a “living breathing document” that will be revised each year to ensure he stays with the Irish.
He also provided more insight on Notre Dame’s decision to opt out of bowl season entirely, a polarizing move that drew national backlash.
“Marcus places a ton of emphasis on the role of captains within the team. ... These aren’t just the letter C pasted onto the jersey and a pat on the back. They have a real role in our team and in our decisions that the team makes, week in and week out,” he said, signaling that the leader’s played a key role in the final decision.
Bevacqua advocated for his vision of the College Football Playoff in future years — a 16 team model with 11 at-large bids. He also shared a message of support for all team’s that warranted serious consideration for the playoff this year, but were not selected.
“Let’s try to do everything we can to correct the system, make it better, so no group of 100 plus 18-22 year olds are sitting in a room with national championship dreams and they’re shattered a moment later without a good explanation. I don’t want that to happen to anybody in the country,” he said.
The Irish ultimately finish the season 10-2 and leave behind the fifth-best odds to win the national championship prior to the selection show. Their season isn’t fully completed yet, however. Junior running back Jeremiyah Love was named a Heisman finalist Monday. Love will be joined in New York City by Freeman and other members of the Notre Dame staff.
From there, it’s full steam ahead toward the 2026 season. As Bevacqua made it clear about Freeman and his team, this is all just fuel for the fire to come.
