Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1541906
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM JANUARY 2026 7 football left this season, both with bowl prep and the actual game. We don't feel sorry for 10-2 "victims." Where have you gone Coach Lou Holtz, who said "life is a classroom, adversity is its teacher"? We all know the Irish should be in the playoffs. The Miami head-to head- argument was a clever way to get the dismal ACC represented in the playoffs. It didn't work out, life goes on. Let us not forget the Irish fans, the real "victims" who actually got "snubbed." We lose a potential December Satur- day afternoon Irish party. Other folks probably would have enjoyed a potential trip to Florida for the game. We know the playoff system minimized the bowl games with players opting out and the games not taken seriously. However, we still would have loved to watch our Irish and the players would have loved to play. Lastly, I texted Santa to not deliver my new Notre Dame sweatshirt and three- quarter zip. Tim Mulhern Hatboro Pa. Mr. Mulhern, there is no doubt that it is extremely disappointing we won't be able to see the Irish play another football game this season. The sudden and unex- pected ending was jarring. However, we can understand why the Irish chose not to play. In this new era of the expanded College Football Playoff, the appeal for elite programs to play in a bowl game that is nothing more than a glorified exhibition game is just not there, especially when you consider the number of player opt-outs that would likely occur. Yes, you could take advantage of the extra practice time and see what your young players are capable of doing, just as the Irish did in a 40-8 win over Oregon State in the Sun Bowl two years ago. But Notre Dame's player leadership decided it was better to end this season on the high note of 10 straight wins and turn its attention toward preparing to compete for the 2026 national championship. Notre Dame director of athletics Pete Bevacqua had this to say about the matter: "The captains and some of the other un- derclassmen on the team said, 'Listen, 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.'" After Notre Dame was snubbed from the College Football Playoff, one of the byproducts was a strained relationship between the Irish and the Atlantic Coast Conference. "We have no gripes about any of the schools in the ACC," Notre Dame director of athletics Pete Bevacqua said on the Dan Patrick Show. "But we were mystified by the actions of the conference to attack their biggest, really, business partner in football, and a member of their conference in 24 of our other sports. … "They have certainly done permanent damage to the relationship between the conference and Notre Dame." Here is a snippet of what Irish fans had to say about that on our message board at BlueandGold.com. SubwayDomer DFW: ACC just started a war. Some lawyers are going to be able to buy a new and bigger boat or lake house. o_fedman: I note that Pete Bevacqua is having a press conference, I doubt that he will be saying this. But my dream response by Pete would be this: After laying out in detail why what the ACC did was unprofessional and a slap in the face to ND, he announces that ND has made the decision to end the Notre Dame and ACC relationship and will enter into a new agreement with the Big Ten. As an aside, I note that Notre Dame will play 4 Big Ten teams this season — Wisconsin, Purdue, Michi- gan State and USC. I wonder if this is an indication that a move away from the ACC to the Big Ten was not already under consideration prior to this CFP snub. Wine Pope: Drop the ACC in football!!!!!!!!! Afterburnersareon: Uhhh, shouldn't they be upset with ESPN/SEC for the narrow arguments lopsided towards ND and not enough scrutiny on how Bama finished the year (and started it for that matter)?? Zinger72: The real reason for snub is they did not want ND to win it all, which I believe they would have! tky21: Swarbrick and Pete have strengthened the relationship with the Big Ten. The latest NBC deal that Bevacqua negotiated before coming to ND upped ND's payout very considerably. Also in 2023, Bevacqua negotiated NBC's involvement in televising Big Ten games. They never televised Big Ten games before that and now NBC televises 15 Big Ten games per year, most of them primetime events. Also around the time these TV deals were coming out, there was word that ND was integrated into the Big Ten broadcasts as either the primetime game or the afternoon game that would lead fans into their primetime game. Also stated was that ND would be scheduling more Big Ten in the future. Make of that what you will. I initially viewed it as a means of diversifying and protecting their in- dependence but am wondering if Savvy Jack and Pistol Pete knew it was time to start moving as the super-conferences would eventually be able to squeeze them out. o_fedman: We are not talking about the possibility of joining the Big Ten or any conference for foot- ball. Pete made that clear. What I think is definitely under consideration is a scheduling agreement with the Big Ten to replace those ACC games if ND leaves the ACC for the Big East. FROM THE WEB .com .com JOIN THE CONVERSATION AT BLUEANDGOLD.COM! Sign up for just $1! (New members only, see terms and conditions) ACC commissioner Jim Phillips released a statement in response to Notre Dame director of athletics Pete Bevacqua's critical comments about the league but pretended like the conference didn't show the Notre Dame at Miami game on the ACC Network on repeat throughout the week leading up to the selection show and multiple posts on social media comparing the two teams. PHOTO COURTESY ACC