Notre Dame AD Blames ACC For 'Permanent Damage' Amid CFB Snub

Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua claimed the ACC, which houses the majority of its sports besides football (independent) and men's hockey (Big Ten Conference), caused "permanent damage" to their relationship hours after the Fighting Irish were snubbed from the College Football Playoff.

Bevacqua said he has great respect for Miami, Alabama and all the teams in the 12-team College Football Playoff field, but was upset how the ACC pushed for the Hurricanes leading up to the selections on Sunday (December 7) during an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show Monday (December 8).

"We were mystified by the actions of the conference to attack their biggest, really, partner in football and a member of their conference in 24 of our other sports," Bevacqua told Patrick. "... They have certainly done permanent damage to the relationship between the conference and Notre Dame."

Notre Dame was the first team out of the 12-team field, ranking No. 11 overall, with the final at-large seed going to No. 10 Miami, with the No. 20 Tulane Green (ACC) Wave and No. 24 James Madison Dukes (Sun Belt Conference) taking the final two conference championship seeds. The Fighting Irish announced their decision to withdraw from bowl game consideration shortly after being excluded from the playoff.

"As a team, we've decided to withdraw our name from consideration for a bowl game following the 2025 season. We appreciate all the support from our families and fans, and we're hoping to bring the 12th national title to South Bend in 2026," the team said in a statement shared on its X account.

The Fighting Irish lost to the Ohio State Buckeyes in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game in January. The full College Football Playoff rankings are listed below with the 12 playoff teams listed in bold:

1. Indiana (Big Ten)- 13-0
2. Ohio State (Big Ten)- 12-1
3. Georgia (SEC)- 12-1
4. Texas Tech (Big 12)- 12-1
5. Oregon (Big Ten)- 11-1
6. Ole Miss (SEC)- 11-1
7. Texas A&M (SEC)- 11-1
8. Oklahoma (SEC)- 10-2
9. Alabama (SEC)- 10-3
10. Miami (FL) (ACC)- 10-2
11. Notre Dame (IA Independents) 10-2
12. BYU (Big 12)- 11-2
13. Texas (SEC)- 9-3
14. Vanderbilt (SEC)- 10-2
15. Utah (Big 12)- 10-2
16. USC (Big Ten)- 9-3
17. Arizona (Big 12)- 9-3
18. Michigan (Big Ten)- 9-3
19. Virginia (ACC)- 10-3
20. Tulane (AAC)- 11-2
21. Houston (Big 12)- 9-3
22. Georgia Tech (ACC)- 9-3
23. Iowa (Big Ten)- 8-4
24. James Madison (Sun Belt)- 12-1
25. North Texas (AAC)- 11-2