ACC Releases Statement in Response to Notre Dame AD’s Harsh Comments After CFP Snub

Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua said the ACC caused “permanent damage” to their relationship.

Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua was displeased with the ACC following their CFP snub. / MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The 12-team bracket for the College Football Playoff was released on Sunday, and the biggest surprise was that Notre Dame got left out of the tournament.

Through the weekly CFP rankings, one of the controversies was that Notre Dame was ranked ahead of Miami despite the Hurricanes beating them in a head-to-head matchup earlier this season. Notre Dame and Miami were two teams on the CFP bubble, and despite neither team playing during conference championship weekend, the CFP committee decided to flip the two teams following BYU’s Big 12 championship game loss, resulting in Miami making the Playoff over Notre Dame.

In the week leading up to the bracket reveal, the ACC Network replayed the Miami-Notre Dame game from August multiple times per day as a reminder why Miami should be ranked ahead of the Fighting Irish. Following that choice and Notre Dame failing to make the CFP, athletic director Pete Bevacqua said that the ACC did “permanent damage” to their relationship.

“I have tremendous respect for Miami. Great team, great school,” Bevacqua said on The Dan Patrick Show. “... And all the teams in the ACC. Wonderful universities. We have no gripes with any of the schools in the ACC, but we were mystified by the actions of the conference to attack their really biggest business partner in football and a member of their conference in 24 of their other sports.”

Notre Dame AD Pete Bevacqua says the ACC did “permanent damage” to its relationship with ND for all of the anti-Irish playoff politicking the conference publicly leaned into in the lead up to the selection show.

“We didn’t appreciate the fact we were singled out repeatedly.” pic.twitter.com/6oF2ZxqIo6

— Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) December 8, 2025

Seemingly in response to those comments from Bevacqua, the ACC released a statement saying, “The University of Notre Dame is an incredibly valued member of the ACC and there is tremendous respect and appreciation for the entire institution. With that said, when it comes to football, we have a responsibility to support and advocate for all 17 of our football-playing member institutions, and I stand behind our conference efforts to do just that leading up to the College Football Playoff committee selections on Sunday. At no time was it suggested by the ACC that Notre Dame was not a worthy candidate for inclusion in the field. We are thrilled for the University of Miami while also understanding and appreciating the significant disappointment of the Notre Dame players, coaches and program.”

The Notre Dame football program has famously chosen to not be in a conference, so naturally, the ACC was going to advocate for one of their own teams in Miami, especially since the Canes beat Notre Dame earlier this season. This should come as no surprise.

Ultimately, the real villain in this scenario is not Notre Dame or the ACC, but simply the CFP committee, which left Notre Dame and much of the college football world baffled by their inconsistent selections and explanation. The committee should have placed Miami ahead of Notre Dame in the first place to avoid this confusion.

Among the committee’s puzzling decisions, they surprisingly moved Alabama ahead of Notre Dame a week ago despite the Irish playing more consistent football. Though Alabama has not played well in at least a month and was blown out in the SEC championship game, they instead got rewarded for their mediocre play with a berth in the CFP while Notre Dame pays the price.

Bevacqua might have projected some of his disappointment onto the ACC, but the real fault lies in the hands of the CFP committee and their heavily flawed processes.

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