With a No. 11 ranking, Notre Dame is now out of the College Football Playoff after dropping two spots in two weeks after a 29-point win over Stanford.
More News: Evidence of SEC officials keeping Notre Dame out of CFP goes viral
The 11-2 Irish are eligible for a bowl game. On Saturday, it leaked ND would be asked to go to the Pop-Tarts bowl to play No. 12 BYU if it was left out of the CFP.
(Update): Per a statement by Notre Dame, the team is rejecting its bowl game.
Via ND:
“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 2025 Notre Dame Football Team.”
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) December 7, 2025
No bowl game for the Irish?
More News: Nick Saban sounds off on Notre Dame being left out of CFP
The Irish could decide to take their frustrations out on BYU, who was punished by the CFP committee for losing the Big 12 championship. However, it appears ND athletic director Pete Bevacqua is considering rejecting a bowl bid after being left of the CFP.
Via Tyler Horka of On3:
“Notre Dame athletics director Pete Bevacqua told @JenLada he hasn’t thought about where the Fighting Irish might play in a bowl game after getting snubbed from the College Football Playoff. Good on him. The system has made it CFP or bust in this era. And his guys got hosed.”
Notre Dame athletics director Pete Bevacqua told @JenLada he hasn't thought about where the Fighting Irish might play in a bowl game after getting snubbed from the College Football Playoff.
Good on him. The system has made it CFP or bust in this era. And his guys got hosed.
— Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) December 7, 2025
The Irish could stick it to the ESPN by cratering their bowl ratings with a rejection. ND has no reason to play BYU. Frankly, stars like running back Jeremiyah Love should skip the bowl so he doesn’t risk his status before the 2026 NFL Draft.
Notre Dame took a shot at ESPN
On Sunday, Bevacqua told Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports that ESPN and the selection committee wasted everyone’s time by the way they ranked teams during the season.
“Any rankings or show prior to this last one is an absolute joke and a waste of time,” Bevacqua said. “If the rankings shows are legitimate, there is no logical explanation of what happened to us. Have one ranking show at the end, like Sunday.”
ESPN pushed a hard propaganda campaign to get five of its SEC teams into the CFP, and committee did its bidding by using crazy mental gymnastics to punish Ohio State, BYU and Virginia for losing its conference championship, but not Alabama.
The Irish should get the last laugh by pulling the plug on the 2025 season. Conference championships no longer really matter, neither do ESPN’s sham bowl games.
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Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman acting ‘unusual’ amid bowl game rejection, NFL links
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