Once again the College Football Playoff committee has snubbed a team that spent the season in the top 10…and this time there are consequences.
After finishing the season with a record of 10 and 2, the Committee left the Fighting Irish out of the playoff lineup.
As a result Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua has announced that they will withdraw from playing in any of the upcoming Bowl games this season.
A statement credited to the Irish football team read, “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 Irish were ranked in the top 10 all season, until selection day when they were dropped to eleventh and the first team out of contention.
The Miami Hurricanes were moved to the number 10 spot; also with a record of 10 and 2 that included beating the Irish in week one.
AD Bevacqua told ESPN that he felt like the rug had been pulled out from under them; adding that the season rankings prior to the final one are “a farce and total waste of time.”
Championship weekend, neither the Irish or Hurricanes were a part of the ACC championship game this weekend.
Selection committee chair Hunter Yurachek spoke on the decision saying that the Irish-Hurricane head to head game was not a factor until the Hurricanes passed BYU in the standings and the committee compared Miami and Notre Dame side by side. Yurachek added that he encouraged the committee to rewatch the Hurricane-Irish game from Labor Day weekend.
Yurachek explained, “once we moved Miami ahead of BYU, then we had that side-by-side comparison that everybody had been hungering for. You look at those two teams on paper, and they are almost equal in their schedule strength, their common opponents, the results against common opponents. But the one metric we had to fall back on, again, was the head to head.”
However, the Alabama Crimson Tide becomes the first THREE loss team to make the playoffs!
Miami will play Texas A&M in the first round of the playoffs; Texas A&M is the other team that beat the Irish. In their two wins, the Irish lost by a combined four points!
The playoffs will expand to 12 teams beginning next season.
This is not the first time a deserving team has been left out of the playoff picture. A few years ago, Florida State University had a perfect record but was left out of the playoffs for a team with a one loss record. Every year a team that gets left out of the playoffs feels that they have been snubbed; but this is the first time a team has refused to play in a Bowl game.
Notre Dame is not the only team refusing to play in a Bowl game this season; albeit for different reasons. Big 12 teams Iowa State and Kansas State have opted out of post season play due to coaching and injury issues. And the Big 12 conference has still decided to fine each of the teams $500,000!
Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell is heading for Penn State to take over the head coaching duties with Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman retiring.
Speaking on their decision to fine the two teams the Big 12 Conference said, “while the conference acknowledges the difficult timing around coaching changes, the Big 12 is responsible for fulfilling its contractual obligations to its bowl partners.”
Iowa State added that the players made the decision not to play because they do not have enough healthy players to practice and play in a game.
Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard spoke on the decision saying, “the administrative staff and coaches respect and support the players decision. Our student-athletes have had an incredible season and we are grateful for their leadership as we worked through this process with them today.”
Barely earning a chance to participate in a bowl game with a 6-6 record, Kansas State athletic director Gene Taylor said, “this decision was not taken lightly, but with our coaching staff transition and several uncertainties regarding player availability, I felt it was not in our best interest to try to field a team that was not representative of Kansas State University. We applaud this group for fighting back from a 2-4 record to lead us to bowl eligibility yet again, and we are happy that our seniors were able to go out on top with a victory inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium.”
UPDATE:
The Bowl Committee is looking at 5 and 7 teams in order to fill the spots left open by teams refusing to play. The Florida State Seminoles finished the season at 5 and 7 and have declined to play in a bowl game.