Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1541906
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM JANUARY 2026 5 P ete Bevacqua could've had a sub- stantial supply of Pop-Tarts. The Notre Dame athletics director would have welcomed it, too; he ad- mitted to NBC's Dan Patrick that he's a bit of a connoisseur, especially of the brown sugar variety. But just like every man has his price, ev- ery man's got to know where to draw a line. Bevacqua drew his Sunday when Notre Dame declined an invitation to the Pop-Tarts Bowl after being left out of the College Football Playoff. It wasn't just Bevacqua's line, though; it was that of all the Fighting Irish. Bev- acqua confirmed to Patrick on his show that the decision for Notre Dame not to take part in bowl season, met with severe backlash from fans and media of every team not named Notre Dame, was one mostly arrived at by Irish players, specifically the leadership contingent. "The captains and some of the other underclassmen on the team said, 'We are such a close-knit team. We've done so much this season. We overcame those two opening losses. We rallied. We dominated in the last 10 games. We can't imagine taking the field not as that team.'" Remember when Florida State was the odd team out of the four-team playoff in 2023, left out to dry by the CFP commit- tee because it lost its starting quarterback to a season-ending injury? The Seminoles played as a shell of themselves in the Or- ange Bowl and lost, 63-3, to Georgia. What good does a result like that do? How is that fun for anyone involved? The counterargument is, show up in Orlando, Fla., and beat the brakes off of BYU. Make that pile of Pop-Tarts your own. Prove it to yourself that your 'B' (or 'C' or 'D') team is still dang good. Prove it to everyone that doubted you that maybe you should have gotten into the playoff all along. Marcus Freeman is the type of head coach to do everything in his power to win a football game no matter the cir- cumstances, opponent, location, etc. See his 5-1 record in postseason games of any kind since the start of the 2022 sea- son, including a 3-1 mark in CFP match- ups. He'd have gotten Notre Dame up for the Pop-Tarts bowl even in the wake of a soul-crushing selection Sunday the Irish didn't see coming. Even if he's not like his boss and does not consume the sugary, processed breakfast pastries. The motivation would've likely needed to have been manufactured, however. Bowl season doesn't hit the same as it once did. During the BCS era, non-na- tional championship BCS bowls (Rose, Fiesta, Orange, Sugar) meant something. If you didn't make the title game, earning a spot in one of those did more for your school than a limitless supply of Pop- Tarts ever could. They're not even doling those out like that in Orlando anyway. What they're doling out in Orlando is a façade. It's playoff or bust for programs like Notre Dame. This is an Irish team that had the third-best odds to win the na- tional championship last week. Instead of allowing them the opportunity to win the whole thing, you're telling them to play in an exhibition game sponsored by a company that makes treats for toddlers. And sometimes Notre Dame athletics di- rectors. But that's neither here nor there. The irony is a society comfortable rip- ping on participation trophy culture is simultaneously attacking Notre Dame for shoving the dubious honor out of its face. It doesn't want to take part in any silly games, which falls in line with a no- nonsense status quo that's pushed on all of us these days, but it's also the bad guy for not taking part in just what the Pop- Tarts Bowl has come to be — a silly game? Make that make sense. You can crack jokes and make fun of the Irish for taking the easy way out all you want, but the only games that matter from here on out are the 11 that will deter- mine a national champion. Notre Dame is not playing in one of those. So it's on to next year. You think Patrick Mahomes, who's likely going to miss the NFL play- offs for the first time in his career, would want any part of a pop-up (not Pop-Tarts, sadly) charity game between the Chiefs and some other squad that missed the playoffs all while those very playoffs are actually going on? Heck no. College football is getting more and more like the NFL every day. The NFL doesn't have "you almost made it!" for funsies matchups during the postsea- son. The NFL also doesn't have a media conglomerate like ESPN possibly cor- rupting the system and influencing who gets in and who gets left out. That is here and there. It's not Notre Dame's fault the sanc- tity of bowl season has been squashed by a shift to money-hungry super con- ferences. Take all of that into account the next time you go to pour it on the Irish for taking the stand they have — especially the part about the super con- ferences. The very thing everyone wants Notre Dame to join — an already over- saturated conference, of which there are way too many now — is one of the main reasons why Notre Dame decided to controversially conclude its 2025 sea- son a month early. ✦ Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman is 5-1 in the postseason since the start of the 2022 season, including a 3-1 record in CFP games. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER Decision To Decline A Bowl Game Is Understandable Tyler Horka has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2021. He can be reached at thorka@blueandgold.com GOLDEN GAMUT TYLER HORKA