With explosive players like Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame was seen as a legit playoff contender in the 2025 season. However, many believe the Fighting Irish were unfairly left out, with some arguing the College Football Playoff committee penalized them for not belonging to a conference.
Jeremiyah Love Holds Firm on Notre Dame’s Conference Independence
In an interview with SI, Love shared his viewpoint on whether Notre Dame should join a conference.
“Nah, we keep the power to ourselves,” Love said. “We have the power to play anybody we want to play. In a conference you got to play it within your confidence. When we made the playoffs last year, we got snubbed. We put ourselves in that position. We lost first in games, but Notre Dame should stay independent.”
After opening the 2025 season with a 0-2 record, the Irish won their final 10 games by double-digit margins. However, they were passed over for playoff spots in favor of Miami and Alabama. The selection committee pointed to Notre Dame’s Week 1 loss to Miami as the deciding factor.
Unlike those programs, Notre Dame lacked a December conference championship game to strengthen its standing. Meanwhile, Miami stayed in the spotlight through its conference title race, which helped it edge ahead in the final rankings.
The situation has also created tension at the administrative level, as athletic director Pete Bevacqua openly criticized the ACC, saying the relationship has suffered lasting damage. Notre Dame also withdrew from bowl game consideration, saying it would focus on the 2026 season instead.
However, head coach Marcus Freeman had previously addressed this possibility back in 2024.
“I think it’s what this football program was built from,” Freeman said about Notre Dame’s long-held independence, via the Irish Star. “As long as we can, we will. I have a lot of confidence in our administration, Pete Bevacqua, our AD, that he’ll always keep us in a position to be successful.
“As long as we can keep that independence, we will. But if there ever comes a time where we’re at a disadvantage because we’re not in a conference, I’m sure he’ll make that decision along with our President to say, ‘okay, we’re going to join one of these conferences and position ourselves not to be negatively impacted by being independent.'”
However, Notre Dame seems committed to staying independent. With the expanded College Football Playoff format, Notre Dame now receives an automatic bid if ranked in the Top 12, reducing the likelihood of controversial exclusions like the one the Irish experienced in 2025. According to PFSN projections, Freeman’s squad currently holds an 82.5% chance of reaching the CFP in the 2026 season.
