Snubbed by the College Football Playoff, Notre Dame thumbed its nose at a second-tier bowl game. The ninth-ranked Fighting Irish responded to getting dropped in the CFP rankings for the second consecutive week by turning down an invitation to play in the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando, Florida. "As a team, we've decided to withdraw our name from consideration for a bowl game following the 2025 season," Notre Dame posted on its X account. "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."
It's a controversial move, notes the AP: Not only is it far from ideal for the long-term viability of non-playoff bowl games, the decision denies Notre Dame's seniors a chance for one final game and denies a legion of fans from watching this particular team play again. Unlike Iowa State and Kansas State, which each got fined $500,000 by the Big 12 for opting out of a bowl game because of coaching changes, Notre Dame won't get punished because it's not a full-fledged member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Despite winning every game for nearly three months, Notre Dame dropped behind Miami in the final CFP rankings and was left out of the 12-team bracket.
One factor: The Fighting Irish, who won their last 10 games by an average of nearly 30 points, watched conference championship weekend from afar, idle as an independent with no options to impress the selection committee one last time in a league title game. Athletic director Pete Bevacqua and coach Marcus Freeman had taken the high road in recent weeks, avoiding too much lobbying and believing their winning streak would be enough to earn a berth. The committee ranked Miami and Notre Dame—both 10-2—next to each other and turned to the head-to-head metric to determine which one would get the No. 10 seed. It was Miami, which beat Notre Dame 27-24 in Week 1 of the regular season.
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