On Sunday, the College Football Playoff (CFP) Committee told Notre Dame that its presence in this year’s playoff was not needed. A couple of hours later, Notre Dame informed college football that if they weren’t competing for a national championship, they weren’t interested in playing at all.
“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,” Notre Dame said in a statement.
Notre Dame lost their first two games of the season, but then went on a 10-game win streak, during which they outscored their opponents by an average of 31 points per game.
In addition, Notre Dame was ranked ahead of Miami for more than a month until the final rankings came out, and ahead of Alabama for multiple weeks, until the committee suddenly vaulted them ahead of the Irish after a squeaker of a win over 5-win Auburn.
However, in the final rankings, the committee gave the final two at-large spots to Alabama and Miami.
According to On3’s Brett McMurphy, Notre Dame was invited to play in the Pop-Tarts Bowl against BYU, which also missed the playoff despite an 11-2 record.
While Notre Dame has faced significant online criticism for its decision to boycott the bowl, many fans allege the school is being “soft.” The school’s decision is likely more about ESPN and how the voting process unfolded than about the actual decision.
For weeks, the CFP selection show, broadcast on ESPN, offered rationales for ranking Notre Dame ahead of Miami and, at times, Alabama, giving Notre Dame players and officials reason to believe they had a high chance of making the playoffs.
As Notre Dame Athletic Director Pete Bevacqua told Yahoo Sports, “There is no explanation that could possibly be given to explain the outcome. As I said to [hwad coach] Marcus, one thing is for sure: Any rankings or show before this last one is an absolute joke and a waste of time. Why put these young student-athletes through these false emotions just to pull the rug out from underneath them, having not played a game in two weeks, and then a group of people in a room shatter their dreams without explanation?
“We feel like the playoff was stolen from our student-athletes.”
Aggravating this is the fact that ESPN announcers on their College Gameday show and in the broadcast booths during the conference championship games, nearly all, repeatedly advocated for the committee to advance Miami into the playoff over Notre Dame.
With Notre Dame’s proposed bowl game against BYU set to be televised by ABC, which owns ESPN, the move is much more likely a reflection of the school’s decision not to fill the network’s pockets that just helped prevent them from making the playoffs.
