After being snubbed by the College Football Playoff, Notre Dame has pulled itself out of the postseason entirely.
Hours after being left out of the 12-team playoff, the Fighting Irish announced that “as a team, we’ve decided to withdraw our name from consideration for a bowl game following the 2025 season,” the university’s football team posted on X.
“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.”
The Fighting Irish played in last season’s national championship game but were on the playoff bubble this fall after a 10-2 record, including an opening-week loss at Miami. Notre Dame was ranked in the top 10 of every ranking by the playoff selection committee until Sunday’s final rankings, when it fell to 11th and was the first team left out. Meanwhile Miami (10-2) earned the final at-large berth.
The Fighting Irish had won 10 consecutive games and were idle Saturday, but fell anyway. Athletic director Pete Bevacqua called the previous rankings a “farce and total waste of time” to ESPN.
How a committee would view Miami and Notre Dame had been a subplot all season. The committee’s chairman, Hunter Yurachek, had said that Miami’s head-to-head win wasn’t a significant factor — until Sunday, when BYU’s drop in the rankings after its loss in the Big 12 championship moved Miami up, creating a head-to-head comparison between the schools.
Notre Dame joined Iowa State and Kansas State in declining a bowl bid despite being eligible, although the circumstances were far different; the Cyclones and Wildcats are each going through coaching transitions. The Big 12 Conference fined both schools $500,000 for saying no to the postseason.
