Notre Dame withdraws from bowl consideration following College Football Playoff snub
The 10-2 Fighting Irish were the first team out in the final playoff bracket
By
Will Backus
•
2 min read
Notre Dame withdrew from the bowl selection process after it missed out on the College Football Playoff, the Fighting Irish announced. Notre Dame landed at No. 11 in the final set of playoff rankings, which made it the first team out of the 12-team bracket.
The selection committee's decision to exclude Notre Dame in favor of Miami, which ranked 10th and snagged the last at-large bid, came after weeks of ranking the Fighting Irish ahead of the Hurricanes. Notre Dame and Miami were both idle during conference championship weekend.
"As a team, we've decided to withdraw our name from consideration for a bowl game following the 2025 season," Notre Dame wrote in a statement. "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."
Notre Dame finished the regular season with a 10-2 record. The Fighting Irish lost their first two games against a pair of ranked opponents in Miami and Texas A&M -- who both made the College Football Playoff -- before winning their final 10 games in a row.
Notre Dame's winning streak included victories against Mountain West champion Boise State and No. 16 USC. That wasn't enough to keep the Irish ahead of Miami when it really mattered.
"There is no explanation that could possibly be given to explain the outcome," Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua said to Yahoo Sports. "As I said to Marcus (Freeman), one thing is for sure: Any rankings or show prior to this last one is 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."
This is the first time since 2016, and just the second time since 2009, that Notre Dame will not compete in a postseason game. The Fighting Irish made it all the way to the College Football Playoff National Championship last season before suffering a 34-23 loss to Ohio State.
Notre Dame is the latest in a growing string of college football teams to opt out of bowl games. The Big 12 fined Iowa State and Kansas State after they decided to decline their postseason opportunities. Granted, both the Cyclones and the Wildcats are undergoing coaching transitions this offseason and neither were in playoff contention.
