Notre Dame just turned one of its best on-field seasons in decades into one of the most dramatic off-field standoffs college football has seen in years.
After finishing 10-2 with a 10-game winning streak, sitting top‑five in most advanced metrics, and widely viewed as a legitimate national title threat, the Fighting Irish were left out of the 2025 College Football Playoff—and then made an even bigger statement: they declined to play in any bowl game at all.
How Notre Dame Went From 0-2 to “Back” Again
Notre Dame’s 2025 arc reads like a Hollywood script.
- They opened the year with back‑to‑back losses to
Miami and
Texas A&M, immediately cratering early playoff buzz.
- From there, they
did not lose again, ripping off
10 straight wins to close the regular season.
- The streak included:
- A
34–24 win vs No. 20 USC- A
37–15 road win at ranked Pitt- A 49–10 blowout of Navy and a 70–7 demolition of Syracuse
- A
49–20 road beatdown of Stanford to finish 10–2
This was not an empty-resume run, either. Notre Dame’s dominance and rising profile had many around the program openly saying the program was “as back as it’s been since January 2, 1989,” a nod to its last undisputed national title era.
On paper, this is the exact kind of profile the expanded playoff was supposed to reward: hot late, strong metrics, marquee wins, and a brand that travels.
Instead, Selection Sunday detonated in South Bend.
The CFP Snub That Lit the Fuse
When the
College Football Playoff committee released its final 2025 rankings, Notre Dame was
dropped to No. 5 and
left out of the playoff field, despite its 10-game win streak and top‑five standing with most metric-based systems.
Key points of frustration from the Notre Dame side:
- The Irish were
“ranked in the top five of nearly all metric-based rankings” but were still excluded from the four-team field.
- They had finished the year looking like “as much of a threat to win the national championship as anyone,” yet were effectively penalized for early losses they had already overcome on the field.
Public commentary quickly framed Notre Dame as one of the
biggest CFP snubs of the season, grouped with BYU on various national lists.
Inside the program, the reaction was emotional and blunt:
- Athletic director
Pete Bevacqua told ESPN and others the decision
“felt like a rug being pulled out from them”, given how the selection played out on the final weekend.
- Coverage around the team highlighted that even head coach
Marcus Freeman told players he had
no good explanation for why the Irish were left out, an unusually candid admission for a head coach after a snub.
The mood shifted from disbelief to something more pointed: if the system was going to treat Notre Dame like this, the program was prepared to respond.
The Shock Move: Notre Dame Declines a Bowl Game
Within hours of fully processing the playoff snub, Notre Dame did something almost no blue-blood program in its position ever does:
it shut down its season entirely.Multiple outlets report that:
-
Notre Dame officially announced it will not participate in a bowl game, ending its 2025 season at 10–2.
- The decision came
after the playoff exclusion, framing it clearly as a broader response to how the selection unfolded.
From a pure football standpoint, skipping a New Year’s Six‑level bowl (or high-profile alternative) is stunning:
- It costs the team a national showcase game.
- It forgoes extra practices that typically help younger players.
- It denies seniors and NFL-bound stars one more big-stage sendoff.
But symbolically, it sends an even louder message:
if the postseason structure is going to minimize Notre Dame’s resume, the Irish will not help prop up the rest of the bowl system as a consolation act.AD Pete Bevacqua Takes Aim at the CFP System
Notre Dame’s bowl decision did not happen in a vacuum. It’s tied directly to how the Irish view the
College Football Playoff selection process.
According to reports,
Bevacqua has publicly called for “significant change” to the CFP selection process after his program’s exclusion. He has been particularly pointed about:
- The opacity around how much weight is given to advanced metrics versus brand, injuries, timing of losses, and conference titles.
- The appearance that a non‑conference, independent power like Notre Dame may be starting at a structural disadvantage in certain tiebreaker scenarios.
At the same time, national coverage shows:
- The CFP committee chair has been grilled in live interviews about leaving Notre Dame out while defending the inclusion and ranking of other programs, especially
Alabama and
Miami.
- Analysts at ESPN and elsewhere have openly criticized the decision, labeling Notre Dame’s omission as illogical and at odds with the stated criteria.
So you now have:
- A blue‑blood program with TV draw and political capital.
- A high-visibility snub in the early era of an expanded format.
- A public call from its AD for structural reform.
- And a highly unusual bowl boycott to underline the point.
That is more than just a bad Sunday; it’s the recipe for a coming policy fight.
Inside the Locker Room: Pride, Frustration, and a Hard Stop
On the field, this Notre Dame team had all the hallmarks of a group built to make noise in December and January:
-
RB duo Jadarian Price and Jeremiyah Love emerged as one of the best backfields in the country, to the point that they were jointly named
finalists for the Pony Express Award, given to the top running back tandem in college football.
- The Irish also picked up the
AFCA Academic Achievement Award, underscoring the “student-athlete” profile the school likes to spotlight.
Players and staff went into the final weekend believing the path was there. Notre Dame
needed certain championship-game results to break its way, and as those dominoes fell, most national chatter framed the Irish as essentially safe.
Instead, they were frozen out.
Reporting around the team describes shock and confusion among players, with at least one star (Love) publicly voicing confidence in their playoff chances up until the reveal. When the snub became official, the mood turned from disbelief to principle: either the season ended at 10–2 as a statement, or the team accepted a consolation path it did not believe reflected its performance.
The administration and football leadership clearly chose the former.
What This Means for Notre Dame – and for College Football
This is bigger than one angry fan base.
For Notre Dame
-
Brand posture: Notre Dame is making it clear it will not quietly accept second‑tier treatment in a system it believes undervalues its resume.
-
Recruiting spin: Expect the staff to tell recruits, “We did everything right, we were a top‑five team by any metric, and the system still boxed us out. We’re going to change that—and we need you to help.”
-
Future scheduling: Don’t be surprised if Notre Dame doubles down on high-profile early opponents to build “undeniable” resumes, or conversely reassesses how much early risk is worth it if the committee weighs timing of losses in a murky way.
For the CFP and Bowl System
The fallout here could linger:
- A program of Notre Dame’s stature
publicly rejecting a bowl bid raises uncomfortable questions about
bowl relevance beyond the playoff.
- If other snubbed contenders ever follow suit, the non‑playoff postseason could be further devalued, accelerating a trend already fueled by opt‑outs and transfers.
- Bevacqua’s call for “significant change” ensures
the selection process will be a hot offseason topic, not just a one-week controversy.
Remember: Notre Dame is one of the most powerful brands in the sport, with its own TV deals, massive national following, and a long history of shaping policy debates. When it complains loudly, people in conference offices and playoff boardrooms tend to listen.
What to Watch Next
Here’s what matters in the weeks and months ahead:
-
Formal proposals: Does Notre Dame (and possibly other schools) push for clearer, more quantifiable criteria for selection and seeding?
-
Public support: Do other ADs, coaches, or commissioners publicly side with Notre Dame’s critique of the 2025 process?
-
Player movement: With no bowl game, does Notre Dame see an unusual volume of transfer or NFL declarations, or does the unified response actually
solidify the locker room?
-
2026 expectations: After a 10–2 year with a 10-game win streak and a snub
Sources
1. Notre Dame Football - Bleacher Report
2. Notre Dame Fighting Irish: Breaking News, Rumors & Highlights
3. Football News Archive - Notre Dame Fighting Irish
4. IrishIllustrated - Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football & Recruiting
5. 2024
6. Notre Dame Fighting Irish News, Scores and Stats 2025-26
7. Notre Dame Football Report - December 3, 2025
8. Notre Dame Football News
9. Notre Dame Fans React to Major 2025 Schedule News
