Notre Dame’s national title hopes were crushed on Sunday when the final CFP rankings left the Irish outside the 12-team field despite spending weeks inside it. The abrupt drop, despite not playing for two weeks, sparked an angry response from athletic director Pete Bevacqua, who told Yahoo Sports the committee misled the program and gave its players false hope before pulling the rug out from under them.

“My feelings and the feelings here are just shock and, really, an absolute sense of sadness for our student-athletes,” said Pete Bevacqua. “Overwhelming shock and sadness. Like a collective feeling that we were all just punched in the stomach. 

“There is no explanation that could be given to explain the outcome. Any rankings or shows prior to this last one are an absolute joke and a waste of time. Why put these young student-athletes through these false emotions just to pull the rug out from underneath them, having not played a game in two weeks, and then a group of people in a room shatter their dreams without explanation? We feel like the playoff was stolen from our student-athletes.”

Coming out of the regular season, Notre Dame (10-2) was ranked No. 10, and Miami (10-2) was ranked No. 13 in the CFP rankings. While both teams haven’t played since then, the Hurricanes were promoted two ranks higher to the 10th spot, and Notre Dame lost their playoff seed. The  American champion Tulane and the Sun Belt champion James Madison, through the automatic bids, earned the last two spots.

The CFP committee explained the Notre Dame-Miami situation, Hunter Yurachek said, that the side-by-side comparison almost came equal tos they “had to fall back on was head-to-head.” Since Notre Dame lost to Miami earlier this season by 27-24, they pushed the Hurricanes over the top, dropping Notre Dame down.

“If the rankings show are legitimate, there is no logical explanation of what happened to us. Have one ranking show at the end, like Sunday. What’s the point of doing anything prior to that?”

Bevacqua dismissed the committee’s reasoning, saying the logic didn’t hold up. If head-to-head were truly the deciding factor, Notre Dame should never have been ranked ahead of Miami at any point in the season. He argued that the weekly rankings created an illusion of stability, only for the committee to reverse course at the end and leave players blindsided. His frustration extended beyond the rankings themselves. Bevacqua privately indicated to ESPN’s Jen Lada that he hadn’t even begun to think about bowl options, and not long after, Notre Dame pulled out of bowl consideration altogether.

Kirk Herbstreit claims CFP rankings are misleading

ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit on the CFP revealing show addressed the Notre Dame and Miami situation, asking what’s the point in hosting a weekly ranking revelation show, while the final rankings reveal a completely different story. 

“So it’s not like the AP poll, where every single week we follow and react to what happened,” Herbstreit said on the CFP reveal show. “This is, to me, a mistake and misleading, because of having these Tuesday night shows and having Miami so far away from Notre Dame.” 

Herbstreit claimed that the head-to-head metrics are the right way when it comes down to Miami and Notre Dame fighting for the final spot. However, the Hurricanes were placed below the Fighting Irish throughout the season, and suddenly, the head-to-head comparison keeping Miami up made it look unfair.

Top Stories

NFL Makes Punishment Decision on Josh Allen Incident

What Is C.J. Stroud’s Ethnicity, Religion, and Nationality? Exploring His Family Roots and Background

Charlie Woods Turns Heads With Rare Scottie Scheffler Interaction After Disappointing Career Update

NFL Punishes Patriots Veteran as Verdict on Jaxson Dart Incident Confirmed

Hideki Matsuyama Puts on a Show and Stops Scottie Scheffler From a Three-Peat

Chiefs Owner’s Wife Sends Public Message to President Donald Trump Amid Calls to Rename NFL

“It’s easy to say, ‘well they should have had Miami ahead of Notre Dame all along.’ Well, Miami had some two tough losses and games they controlled against SMU and Louisville, and gave them both away. There had to be some kind of reaction from the committee and a punishment from the committee.”