‘Totally Out of Bounds’: Big 12’s Brett Yormark Blasts Notre Dame AD’s ‘Egregious’ Comments on CFP Snub

The Big 12 commissioner rebuked Pete Bevacqua for going after the ACC and Jim Phillips after the selection committee flipped the Fighting Irish with Miami in its final rankings.

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark blasted Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua for his comments about the Fighting Irish being left out of the College Football Playoff. / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

LAS VEGAS — The College Football Playoff meeting among conference commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua may be even more interesting next month in Miami ahead of the national championship game.

Not because of any discussion around the postseason event’s potential format changes, but as a result of the recent comments Bevacqua made recently over the Fighting Irish being left out of the 12-team playoff this season.

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark had a particular rebuke to his peer on the CFP management council. 

“I don’t like how Notre Dame has reacted to it. I think Pete, his behavior has been egregious,” Yormark said Tuesday at Sports Business Journal’s Intercollegiate Athletics Forum. “It’s been egregious going after Jim Phillips when they saved Notre Dame during COVID. We all knew, it was very transparent. Hunter [Yurachek], the chair, was very transparent that as Notre Dame and Miami got closer and closer together, that head-to-head would be a factor. BYU lost, they came closer together and head-to-head made a difference.

“I think he is totally out of bounds in his approach. If he was in the room, I would tell him the same thing.”

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Bevacqua has been vocal the past 48 hours decrying the selection committee’s decision to leave his school out, flipping the Fighting Irish with Miami in the final set of rankings after four weeks of having both schools in the reverse order despite the Hurricanes’ victory in the season opener. A former television executive with NBC Sports before taking up the mantle at his alma mater, Bevacqua spoke to several media outlets on Sunday about his displeasure and did an interview on The Dan Patrick Show on Monday where he reiterated that the school was extremely upset with the ACC in particular surrounding the conference’s perceived support around one of their full-time members over that of a partial member.

While the furor from South Bend over the move has been understandable, the manner in which the school’s administration has taken—Bevacqua in particular—to voice those feelings stands in stark contrast to previous situations where a school has disagreed with how the playoff field was put together.

“Listen, you have to accept it. We all signed up for it,” Yormark said. “I was very taken aback by [Bevacqua’s] approach.”

Yormark’s league played a central role in the committee’s decision to reorder the teams in light of BYU dropping one spot from No. 11 in the penultimate rankings to No. 12 after they lost the Big 12 championship game to Texas Tech on Saturday.

“I think [the selection committee] got it right. Listen, was I happy about BYU? No. They lost to Texas Tech earlier in the season and dropped five spots and they never really were able to gain any of those spots back. They ended up on the outside looking in at 12,” Yormark said. “Overall, they did the right job. This is progress over perfection. The selection committee process will never be perfect. Our goal as commissioners and the management committee is how do we improve upon it every year?”

That will be among the number of discussions that will take place over the coming weeks surrounding the College Football Playoff. 

Whether they are of the civil variety or otherwise might be far more interesting to hear about after the past week of sniping however. 

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