After the recent conference promoting Miami over Notre Dame, any hopes of smoothing over the strained ties between Notre Dame and the ACC seemed to vanish on Monday.
Notre Dame’s athletic director, Pete Bevacqua, expressed that the current situation feels like the ACC is “targeting” his program. This relationship is already complicated, given that Notre Dame partially belongs to the ACC for football and is fully integrated into the conference for 24 other sports.
“We have the utmost respect for the schools in the ACC,” Bevacqua mentioned to reporters Monday. “However, we were taken aback and disappointed to see the ACC run a social media campaign that criticized our football program.”
“Why would you undermine a significant business partner? The logic escapes me.”
As for mending the relationship between Notre Dame and the ACC, including a possible apology from the conference, that seems unlikely to occur in the near future.
“Honestly, I don’t believe an apology would change much. In due time, we will engage in a constructive discussion with the ACC, but right now isn’t the right moment.”
Perhaps, even more telling about the future of Notre Dame’s relationship with the ACC were Bevacqua’s remarks on the Notre Dame podcast, “The Echoes,” where he indicated that the conference’s actions have gained the interest of more influential figures at Notre Dame, hinting at “consequences and repercussions” to follow.
In his initial remarks, Bevacqua reiterated the frustration he voiced the day before after the committee announced Notre Dame’s exclusion from this year’s playoffs. He, along with head coach Marcus Freeman and the players, expressed they were “perplexed” and “shocked” to not be included in the 12-team lineup, especially since they had led Miami in the committee rankings throughout the season and had been in close contention with Alabama.
“It’s surreal to think that when we got off the plane after the Stanford game, our season was effectively done. We are one of the few teams actually capable of winning a national championship this year.”
Bevacqua highlighted that although the CFP’s decision was disheartening, it serves to refresh coach Freeman’s efforts for Notre Dame’s 2026 season.
