A newsy wrinkle from Bevacqua: As part of an MOU signed last spring, Notre Dame is assured of a CFP berth if it is ranked in the top 12 starting next year.If this year's situation unfolds next year, the final at-large team (Miami) would have gotten bumped for No. 11 Notre Dame.— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) December 7, 2025
Just when I thought Notre Dame was becoming sorta likable, they pull shit. I would hope that they have to share rev with the ACC in this case, but I doubt it.
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I want to see either an investigation or a full explanation of why ND gets this special treatment. How long until another school files a lawsuit?
Each P4 champ and highest ranked G6 also get an automatic spot. So Duke and ND would both have been in this year. Unless it's a "G" level school, no one will litigate.
If only, I don't know, they adopted a playoff model.
Each conference should have at a minimum, a four-team playoff to determine who goes to the CFP.
Simple, win and advance.
8 team playoff. 5 auto bids, one to the B1G, SEC, ACC, Big12, and the highest ranked other conference champion. 3 at large bus to the highest ranked teams that didn't win a conference. Realignment would really slow as joining the SEC or B1G really limits your chances of getting in. Probably less playoff blowouts as well.
That makes sense which is why it would never happen.
or go 12 and make EVERY conf. champion an auto-bid. Top-4 conference champions (not ranked teams) get a bye. Fill in the rest somehow... It would be great if we could make it based purely on record, but having a re-incarnation of the BCS to seed the bracket and at-large teams would be nice too.
relative conference strength should be based on non-con records of the conferences collectively against each other.
If each team in the SEC (16) play 4 non-con games each that amounts to 64 non-con games against the other (11?) conferences. Presumably, each conference would have similar numbers. Each conference would then have a winning percentage against each of the other conferences. Use those winning percentages to seed the conference champions.
I'm fine with Notre Dame remaining independent. In fact, I kinda like it in this era of super conferences. But this is absolute bullshit.
They will just make sure to rank Notre Dame 13th behind 5 SEC teams, 4 B1G teams, 1 ACC, 1 B12, and the highest ranking G5.
I would LOVE that level of pettiness, tbh. C'mon rankings voters, you can do it!
If they get an auto-bid for ranking then every single conference champion should get an auto-bid regardless of ranking
What a Charmin soft athletic department they have up there in South Bend. Incredible.
When Notre Dame, Iowa State, Baylor etc all decline their bowl offers does that mean the coaching staff get shorted the bonuses they qualified for by making bowl status?
I usually find myself defending Notre Dame, but this is Notre Lame.
What did they trade for this?
You know what? I'm gonna say it.
I'm glad the Bush Push happened now.
As a kid who grew up near South Bend, The Bush Push will forever be a very enjoyable core memory for me!
As a kid who desperately wanted the #3 Hokies to be the #2 Hokies in the BCS rankings, I spent that whole game rooting hard for Notre Dame. The bush push enraged me at the time because it was against the rules.
Of course we went on to get dunked on by Miami a little later, but the bush push hurt man.
I was also rooting hard for Notre Dame, but only because I hated the Reggie Bush Trojans. I had to do some kind of church youth activity or something like that that took me away from the game with the Irish leading. I was pretty pissed when I saw the final, and even more pissed when I saw how it came about.
I figured if the Hokies went undefeated we'd find our way to a prestigious bowl of some standing or other, so I wasn't super worried about our ranking.
Those were the days.
I knew we'd go to a good bowl. At that age, I thought good bowls were our God-given right. I wanted to play for a natty.
I did too, but I figured worst case we'd pull a 2004 Auburn and just claim it for ourselves if we went undefeated and got left out.
The folly of youth.
In the words of Dean Wormer: "I hate those guys..."
They should join a conference or stop complaining. That, or use all the scheduling freedom to come up with a schedule that is stronger than 44th in the country, keeping in mind there are only 70 P4 teams, 71 if you count Notre Dame on quality. So 44th means you are playing a below average P4 schedule.
and if they dont join a conference, do what another posted mentioned in another thread and just have every P4 conference mutually agree to stop scheduling ND ever again. Let them try to inflate their rankings against the G5 and FCS schools and see how far they get.
Does this apply to UCONN too?
This is dumb for many reasons. I don't really see how this does anything for Notre Dame. This isn't a computer ranking (at least not yet...). If the Playoff Committee doesn't want ND in, they can just rank them at 13. They are still making a conscious decision as to whether or not ND are in the playoff.
If anything, this should encourage the Committee to keep ND ranked on the low end if they are on the bubble.
And yes, ND are a bunch of entitled whiners who need to join a conference and get with everyone else.
That would be my take on all this - Notre Dame had better not EVER be a bubble team again or yep, history will repeat itself.
The program that wants to be singled out in their TV contract, and their independence, and their CFP deal, and their bowl deals, and their scheduling, and their money, doesn't want to be singled out? Boo Hoo
Notre Dame's AD today, apparently.
lol, based solely on this meme, the ND AD would actually have a point. The ACC is often (if not always) wrong.
But also, he's out of touch AF too. I guess both could be true.
The ACC is no doubt a shitshow but the Notre Dame AD is being a little bitch saying the relationship between the ACC and ND is permanently damaged for the other sports because of the ACC pushing for Miami to get in.
Oh, don't get me wrong. I completely agree that ND are being whiney little bitches about it
I can't believe I am saying this, but Stephen A. Has a good take on this.
To summarize, in regards to the ACC lobbying for Miami>ND and ND not being in a conference:
"Everything you (Notre Dame) do, is done to create an advantage for you, and when the ACC mimicks this behavior you go on a national radio show and claim the ACC is doing irreparable damage to the relationship? That is a lot of nerve!"
Supposedly this move will cost ESPN upwards of $30 million. I can't find where I read that earlier, so that number might be off. And maybe that was the number for all the opt outs... In any event, maybe this is how we all get back at ESECPN. Screw them and their conflict of interest with both the SEC and the CFB Playoff.
This has got to damage the entire bowl structure. And lends itself to having the middle tier bowls host the first rounds, especially when they expand the number of teams. I get that it hurts the home teams that are supposed to host, but that also has to be some sort of logistics nightmare setting up for an unplanned game in 2 weeks time...the food, drink, staff, hotels, etc. Imagine there are a few that might be pushed up against a graduation or shortly thereafter. The bowls, while removing the home field, at least know they will be hosting and should have things down. I mean the basketball tournament is practically 100% on the road.
If I was the Dictator of College Football, I would get rid of all the non-CFP bowls. If we are going to have a playoff, the bowls are redundant and not really needed. I love that the first round is played on campus. You could even talk me into having all the games up to the national championship on campus.
I realize this will not happen. But with more and more players opting out, transfer portal, and now teams just flat out declining to participate, I think it's time to start the conversation.
Agree that the lower tier bowls are superfluous at this point. And I've said for years that having 33 bowls or whatever was way too many. There was the argument about extra practice blah blah blah...but like 9 teams just showed us this year, that doesn't mean much now. Maybe have some games for the G5 as a reward. But 8 bowls for the first round, 4 for the second round, and like 5 others for G5 would suit nicely. And the ND's and the opt-outs can sit at home and figure out how to win more then next year to get into the playoff.
And going to Boise in December is NOT a reward for a good season.
All this talk of the playoff today has me thinking that college football has a big problem to solve with the G5 schools. Lots of folks upset that two G5s are in and both are likely to lose by a considerable margin. All while the likes of ND, Texas, BYU, and Vandy are on the outside looking in. I agree with the sentiment, but if we are going to exclude them from the chance of qualifying, then we need to create an environment where they can still compete for something bigger than a conference title.
Why not bifurcate Division I into three separate units: P4, G5, and FCS? All have a playoff and all crown a national champion. To your point, this could give some of the lesser bowls more prestige by being G5 playoff sites (though I still think those games should be on campus).
I agree that JMU and Tulane are not in the conversation as one of the 12 best teams. You might as well rule out the entire G5 before the season starts if that's the guiding qualification though.
I'm not opposed to 3 trophies being awarded across FBS/FCS.
I also think this has impacted voting to an extent to. You get way more G5 schools receiving votes during a season as voters now have a narrative to push to separate a few up so they are easy to delineate when it comes to highest ranked. JMU at 12-1 (78th in SoS) and Tulane (11-2) (70th) if you look at opponents is not facing nearly the schedule of even 9-3 GT (56th) or 9-3 Arizona (49th). Let alone being ranked right after Michigan (22nd) and Utah (27th).
My idea is 28 teams make the postseason. All 10 conference champions are guaranteed a spot and a first round home game. But, not necessarily in the CFP tournament.
The top 12 teams go into the playoff for the national championship. The first 2 rounds are at home sites.
The other 16 teams are placed into 4 pods of 4. First round is at home sites and then the winners play around 1/1 at a neutral site in a traditional bowl game.
With this format you keep some of the prestige of the bowls and award a national champion + 4 other bowl pod winners. The bowls could put out some significant NIL money to try to prevent players from opting out.
Twelve is plenty. And we've already seen enough of any team that doesn't make the cut.
Until every conference champion at the FBS level is included, we don't have enough teams in the CFP.
I don't care about perceived quality of team or blowouts or anything like that, I just don't. Every team deserves an objective path to a national championship devoid of human fuckery.
The fact we are handwringing now over the ACC or ND getting a spot while the SEC has 5 teams in a 12 team playoff is horseshit. It's an invitational for rich teams
12 is enough, but there should be some way to resolve it so that the SEC doesn't get 5 of those spots.
I agree. This whole discussion over who is "best" is just horseshit. Everyone thinks everyone else's opinions are wrong, so take that out of the equation.
Divide things up. Have one, two, three... representatives from those divisions play each other in a single elimination bracket until one team is left as the winner. Every other realm of the sports world handles this except for college football.
Go full FIFA.
4 pots.
1 pot SEC
1 pot Big10
1 pot ACC/Big12/Pac12
1 pot G5
4 pods
Top 2 advance to 8 team elimination playoff
Only reason I dont suggest detonating all the bowls is weather becomes a factor otherwise the amount of money lost by schools to keep that antiquated bullshit alive is astronomical. Most bowls schools lose money overall. It lines the pockets of bowl committees, coaches, athletic director etc but overall its a waste sharing all that money into so many pots. Conference revenue bowl share also shorts the best teams.
I really feel there should be a financial assessment required that isn't tied to the teams selling a massive amount of tickets that still shows schools will be profitable from attending. The combined conference allotment should only share the portion of funds left over after every schools attendance costs are accounted for. This prevents a team like Tech getting hosed if their bowl is in California rather than Carolina. The selection of who travels should be agreed upon across the conference so you also dont get teams sending more because they can squeeze it in. Belichicks girlfriend shouldn't travel on UNC's dime etc.
The assessment needs to also account for the travel not just of the team, coaches staff but the band, cheerleaders, Mascot and other staff to show profitability because these bowls enjoy protected non-profit status so should be forced to pay out the maximum amount possible.
I sincerely hope this is the beginning of the end of the relationship with ND. I do not agree with Cowherd much but he nailed it with the dating analogy. ND wants the casual fling with the benefits of a full marriage without actually being married. If you dont want to share the football revenue and tv deal but expect the conference to still lobby for you like a 21 year member in Miami go eat rocks and pound sand.
Ugh. CFP BS making me be in agreement with the Giraffe ... the world is ending
Dinich calling out all the people in charge https://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/47256078 via @ESPN App http://espn.com/app
My kids saw her on ESPN this weekend for the first time and immediately asked what was wrong with her neck....without any sort of prompting from me.
I'm gonna stick my neck out here (giraffe joke) and say that for 51 Heather D ain't that bad....
I didn't realize she was that old. She looks good for 51. Age definitely helped her out some.
just when I thought she couldn't be any more insufferable, she's a Shittsburgh Squeelers fan too!
yuck
Every time she talks she sounds drunk. It's beyond just a lisp, she speaks slow and, slurs most words and often uses the kind of logic that only alcohol could facilitate
This is the correct way to handle Notre Dame's entitled asses
Drink up, buttercup
I guess it's to be expected when we have the same discussion happening on two threads...this thread relates to the autobid MOU, the other is about ND's tantrum.
In my official capacity, I declare this to be the appropriate placement of this tweet.
not up to me, but I'd allow it