At some point faraway from studying that Notre Dame had been ignored of the Faculty Soccer Playoff’s 12-team subject, Combating Irish athletic director Pete Bevacqua was nonetheless fuming.
Along with reiterating his frustrations with the CFP rating course of, Bevacqua additionally turned his ire on the Atlantic Coast Convention throughout a Monday morning look on “The Dan Patrick Present.”
“We have been mystified by the actions of the convention, to assault, , their greatest, actually, enterprise accomplice in soccer and a member of their convention in 24 of our different sports activities,” Bevaqua mentioned. “And I wouldn’t be sincere with you if I didn’t say that they’ve definitely completed everlasting injury to the connection between the convention and Notre Dame.”
Except for soccer and males’s hockey, all Notre Dame athletic groups are members of the ACC. Whereas the Irish soccer workforce has maintained its standing as an unbiased, it has had an settlement since 2014 to play video games in opposition to not less than 5 ACC groups every season.
Miami, then again, is a full-fledged member of the ACC.
Notre Dame opened the season Aug. 31 with a 27-24 loss at Miami, adopted by a one-point loss to Texas A&M the following week. However the Irish went 10-0 to complete the season, beating their opponents by a median of almost 30 factors (a quantity that was bolstered by their 70-7 win over Syracuse on Nov. 22).
Miami additionally completed the common season at 10-2. Regardless of the head-to-head win over Notre Dame months earlier, the Hurricanes have been ranked beneath the Irish each week for the reason that 2025 CFP rankings launched in early November — till this week, when Miami jumped to No. 10 and the Irish landed at No. 11.
With No. 20 Tulane and No. 24 James Madison getting computerized bids because the American Athletic Convention and Solar Belt Convention champions, respectively, that left Notre Dame out of the 12-team CFP bracket. Notre Dame subsequently introduced it was withdrawing from consideration from any school bowl video games this season.
“What we’re so confused by and annoyed with is the method,” Bevacqua mentioned. “Each step alongside the best way, for the reason that first CFP rankings got here out, we have been led to consider we have been in so long as we took care of enterprise. And we definitely took care of enterprise with this 10-game profitable streak.
“Can you consider that first rating? , we and Miami have been each 6-2. That they had clearly already beat us the primary recreation of the 12 months. They have been 18th. We have been tenth. , the one factor that we did since that time was win each recreation by over a median of over 30 factors. And , impulsively we’re eleventh and on the surface wanting in.”
CFP choice committee chairperson Hunter Yurachek mentioned through the playoff’s choice present that Miami’s season-opening win over Notre Dame hadn’t factored into the rankings till this weekend — when it grew to become clear that the 2 groups can be side-by-side within the rankings and one workforce would seemingly find yourself out of the postseason image.
At that time, Yurachek mentioned, he had the committee members rewatch the Miami-Notre Dame recreation.
“You take a look at these two groups on paper and they’re nearly equal of their schedule energy, their frequent opponents, the outcomes in opposition to frequent opponents,” Yurachek mentioned. “However the one metric we needed to fall again on … was the head-to-head.”
Final month, the ACC soccer account on X posted a graphic that highlighted Miami’s win over Notre Dame and listed how the groups in contrast in sure statistical classes, with the Hurricanes popping out on high in two of the three circumstances.
Additionally, in keeping with ESPN, the ACC Community replayed Miami’s win over the Irish greater than a dozen occasions final Thursday and Friday.
“We didn’t recognize the truth that we have been singled out repeatedly and in comparison with Miami,” Bevacqua mentioned. “Not by Miami — Miami has each proper to try this, but it surely raised quite a lot of eyebrows right here that the convention was taking photographs at us.”
Requested by Patrick if Notre Dame would reevaluate its total relationship with the ACC after this, Bevacqua merely acknowledged, “I’d simply say it’s been strained.”
Patrick then requested if the injury was irreparable.
“Nicely, you by no means say irreparable, but it surely’s opened our eyes,” Bevacqua mentioned. “And , it caught our consideration.”
The ACC didn’t instantly reply Monday to The Instances’ request for remark.
