Notre Dame staff, players, and some administrators gathered on Sunday to watch the playoff announcements, thinking the school would be placed at No. 9 or No. 10. Marcus Freeman’s squad entered the day at No. 10 in the CFP rankings and was seemingly in line for the final at-large spot.
However, the selection committee dropped Notre Dame to No. 11 and selected Miami for the playoff instead. The decision drew heavy criticism, as Notre Dame had consistently been ranked above the Hurricanes over the past five weeks.
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Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua told Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger on Sunday that the Irish felt as though a playoff spot had been unfairly taken from them. He also noted that starting in 2026, Notre Dame will be guaranteed a playoff berth if it finishes the season ranked in the top 12.
Bevacqua explained that under a potential 14-team playoff format with additional at-large spots (increasing from seven to nine), Notre Dame would automatically qualify if ranked No. 13 or higher, based on a memorandum signed by playoff officials last spring.
Freeman’s team ended the regular season on a 10-game winning streak and was ranked No. 4 in the PFSN College Football Playoff rankings. The Irish were considered contenders for their first national title since 1988, but early losses to Miami and Texas A&M ultimately hurt their playoff chances.
Meanwhile, the calls for Notre Dame to join a conference and forgo its independent status started growing after the playoff snub. The urge came from fans, such as comedian Shane Gillis, other college sports stakeholders, and possibly even some CFP committee members.
“It’s finally catching up. Like my whole life, everybody’s always been like ‘join a conference,’ and now that there’s only two conferences, it’s like we might have to. And I’m all right with it. Big 10 or SEC would be awesome. Never the ACC after they betrayed us this year. I don’t know if you saw their social media every day. They were trashing Notre Dame,” Gillis said.
However, Bevacqua firmly rejected the idea. “We love being independent in football. It’s part of our DNA,” Bevacqua said. “We have zero intention of changing that. It’s part of who Notre Dame is. Quite frankly, this further cements our independence. We are out there fighting for ourselves. That’s something we accept.”
Meanwhile, Notre Dame will not play in a bowl game after it was left out of the playoff. The Irish added to the list of teams to decline a bowl bid on Sunday, as both Kansas State and Iowa State had earlier announced they wouldn’t be attending bowl games due to coaching changes.
As per Brett McMurphy, Florida State, UCF, Auburn, Rutgers, Baylor, Temple, and Kansas also chose not to participate in bowl games.
