Notre Dame’s sore-loser reaction to missing College Football Playoffs in 2025
Notre Dame spent a lot of time feeling like they were in the College Football Playoff until the final update, and they were left out. They reacted accordingly, but poorly. The Fighting Irish have not made themselves look very good in the process.
Notre Dame’s poor reaction to perceived CFP snub
Notre Dame’s best chances to add resume wins were in the first two weeks of the season. They had two top-ranked matchups with Miami and Texas A&M, two teams who spent a lot of the season in the playoff range and did make the final 12.
Unfortunately, the Irish lost both games. They kept it close, but they lost their two biggest games of the year. They would go on to win 10 straight and work back into the conversation, but their biggest wins were over unranked Pittsburgh and number 16 USC. It’s not all that surprising that the Irish were held out, nor is it shocking that Miami got in over them.
The ACC’s title-game fiasco would’ve left the conference out, but since Miami was a pretty good team in that conference, they got in. Plus, Miami also beat Pittsburgh, and they won the head-to-head with Miami. The Irish may have been snubbed a little bit, but Miami would’ve been snubbed as well.
Snubs happen, but Notre Dame has reacted pretty poorly. In the immediate aftermath of the decision, which had the Fighting Irish 11th but out because of the other conferences that get an automatic bid, they declined to play in any bowl game.
Via ESPN, their team statement read, "As a team, we've decided to withdraw our name from consideration for a bowl game following the 2025 season. 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."
AD Pete Becquava said he felt like his team had the rug pulled out from under them after being “in” in all the weeks leading up to the final reveal. It’s not as if Miami won the conference championship while Notre Dame sat home. Neither played that weekend. He called the weekly rankings a “farce” and a “total waste of time.”
The committee confirmed after the decision that the head-to-head matchup was the deciding factor between two similar teams. They have come to the right conclusion, but Notre Dame is justified in feeling upset about the switch-up. They’d still likely be mad they didn't make it in, but had they never been ahead of Miami, it would’ve at least come as less of a shock.
This sort of situation won’t happen again, though. Per the report from ESPN, Notre Dame has signed a memorandum that prevents them in future years from being left out of the field if they’re a top-12 team. The unique tiebreakers, conference auto-bids, and more led to a pretty weird year where two of the top 12 teams did not make it in, but that won’t happen if Notre Dame’s ranked 11th or 12th next year. The entire playoff field is making a change in 2026, including granting every conference champion (including, if it happens again, 8-5 Duke) a spot in the playoff as well as Notre Dame if they’re ranked high enough.
It is totally understandable that the Fighting Irish are very upset about this. They were pretty close, even factoring in the two hurtful losses, to the playoff field, and the rankings did seem to imply that they would be in. When they weren’t put in, though, they reacted like a sore loser, acting like a basketball team that refuses the NIT because they didn’t make the 68-team cut for the NCAA Tournament. It’s a bad look, and it doesn’t reflect well on the leadership.
