Overview
- Miami and Alabama made the 12-team College Football Playoff while Notre Dame and BYU were left out, with the committee elevating Miami on head-to-head over the Irish in the final ranking.
- Notre Dame declined all bowl invitations, and athletic director Pete Bevacqua said ACC advocacy for Miami caused “permanent damage” to the school’s relationship with the conference.
- The ACC publicly backed Miami’s inclusion on its X account in November, a stance Notre Dame points to in criticizing the conference’s role.
- BYU challenged its exclusion by posting ESPN strength-of-schedule and strength-of-record metrics favoring the Cougars and is slated to play Georgia Tech in the Pop-Tarts Bowl on Dec. 27 in Orlando.
- Industry discussion about reform intensified, with reports that discontinuing weekly rankings will be considered and commentary highlighting inconsistent logic, while FOX’s Joel Klatt urged Notre Dame to play a bowl game.