Marcus Freeman and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish program have received some scrutiny from the national media over the past couple of months. When they were left out of the College Football Playoffs, the program made the decision to sit out of their Bowl Game in protest.
Why Did Stephen A. Smith Sound Off On Notre Dame HC Marcus Freeman?
Once the dust settled there, Freeman was involved in an altercation at a local high school event, which ended up being basically a non-story. Earlier today, ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith added more fuel to the fire by torching Freeman and the Fighting Irish regarding the announcement of the CFP remaining at 12 teams.
Smith’s rant on ESPN was regarding Notre Dame’s automatic inclusion into the CFP if they’re ranked in the top 12 at the end of the season.
“This is sickening…Bump Notre Dame. Get your ass in a conference and compete like everybody else,” said a frustrated Smith.
Also in Smith’s rant, he questioned why Notre Dame gets special treatment with the new adjustments from the CFP committee.
“They had an opportunity to be in a conference. The AD, sitting there whining and moaning about how the ACC commissioner didn’t speak up for Notre Dame, but spoke up for Miami. You’ve got about 25 sports. 23 of them are in the ACC. But you pull football out because you want the bag for yourself. And then when you don’t make the playoff you want to blame everybody else instead of looking in the mirror,” Smith added.
Stephen A. Smith went on a rant like only he can about Notre Dame’s automatic inclusion in the College Football Playoff if it’s ranked in the top 12 at the end of the season.
“This is sickening…Bump Notre Dame. Get your ass in a conference and compete like everybody else.” pic.twitter.com/Z9ucopMaBT
— Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) January 23, 2026
In addition to the special clause for the Irish, Power 4 conference champions will be guaranteed spots in a 12-team field, along with the highest-ranked Group of 6 conference champion. This decision was likely made directly in response to Notre’s frustrations with being left out of the CFP this year when other non-conference champions got in.
There has been talk of expanding the CFP to 16 teams, and even rumblings to expand to 24. According to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports, the Big Ten prefers a larger field (24) with multiple AQs per conference, and the SEC prefers a more incremental step to 16 with 11 at-large selections.
Also occurring earlier today, Notre Dame announced their 2026 Season Schedule. The Irish will face three Big Ten teams and six ACC teams next season. They’ll also begin the season away from home for the sixth-consecutive year, the longest such stint in program history. It will be intriguing to see how next season goes for the Irish after everything they’ve endured over the past couple of months.
