(Photo Credit: James Black for AP)
The University of Notre Dame football team sent shockwaves through the college sports world on Sunday when it announced it would not be playing in any bowl games — shortly after the storied program missed the College Football Playoff by one spot.
Notre Dame was ranked #11 at the end of the season, but the team still missed the 12-team playoff bracket because two spots went to Tulane and James Madison, which they earned by winning their respective conferences; Alabama and University of Miami grabbed the last two playoff spots and pushed the Fighting Irish out.
Rather than play in a non-playoff bowl game, Notre Dame decided to skip bowl season entirely. Here is the brief statement the ND squad posted on X:
As a team, we’d 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.
CFP chairman Hunter Yurachek explained to ESPN’s Rece Davis why the playoff committee ultimately picked Miami over Notre Dame.
“You look at those two teams on paper, and they’re almost equal in their schedule strength, their common opponents, the results against their common opponents,” Yurachek said. “But the one metric we had to fall back on, again, was the head-to-head. I charged the committee members to go back and watch that game again… we got some interesting debate from our coaches on what that game looked like as we watched it.”
The “Golden Domers” ended the season 10-2 and had won their final 10 games, including wins over #20 USC and #22 Pittsburgh.
Notre Dame, The Athletic reported, “would have fallen into the ACC’s non-CFP bowl tier that included the Pop-Tarts Bowl, Holiday Bowl and Gator Bowl. Instead, the Irish will skip them all, forgoing the extra practices that most college coaches covet during the winter months.”
There were plenty of reactions to Notre Dame’s decision on Sunday.
Robert Griffin III, a former Heisman Trophy winner, said he didn’t blame Notre Dame “one bit” for ditching bowl season “when they should have been playing for a chance to win the National Championship.”
Outkick’s Clay Travis said Notre Dame and BYU should have made the playoffs because Tulane and James Madison had “no business” being in there.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) even weighed in, saying both Notre Dame and Miami deserved to make the playoff:
But ESPN’s Booger McFarland slammed Notre Dame for opting out of a bowl:
“If you are Notre Dame, why not just say we lost to Miami, we think we are a better team but we lost the battle on the field?” McFarland said. “Instead you pout and take your ball and go home. Really teaching the kids a great lesson in South Bend.”
Others sounded a similar note.
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