Pete Bevacqua questions why the ACC would attack Notre Dame: 'We're important to the ACC'

Getting to the College Football Playoff was always the goal for Notre Dame, and, since being snubbed, there’s been some clear frustration from the program. That includes frustration directed at the ACC itself by athletic director Pete Bevacqua.

Earlier in the week, Bevacqua shared that he felt the ACC did “permanent damage” to their relationship. That’s something that Bevacqua would explain in further detail during a press conference on Tuesday, blaming how the conference attacked Notre Dame.

“I would tell you, again, we have the ultimate respect for our fellow universities in the ACC,” Pete Bevacqua said. “Wonderful universities with wonderful athletic programs. So, it’s not about the universities. It’s not about Miami. I’ve texted back and forth with Dan Radakovich. I sent him a text last night, saying, ‘I’m so happy you guys made it. I hope you go deep. I think you have the talent to win it all.’ But, what we were really surprised by, disappointed by, was how the ACC Conference really went on a social media campaign, in my opinion, attacking our football program.”

Bevacqua is referencing the ACC politicking for Miami to make the CFP. They’d, ultimately, do so at Notre Dame’s expense. After all, the two had played with Miami winning and both battled for the final at-large bid.

“If Miami had done that, and they didn’t, I get it. All is fair. There’s a great rivalry, decades long rivalry between Notre Dame and Miami. That’s the spirit of the universities and football programs and fandom,” Bevacqua said. “And that’s what makes college football special, whether it was Notre Dame-Miami, Notre Dame-USC, Michigan–Ohio State. We felt this was different and it raised a lot of eyebrows. We made our feelings known that we didn’t particularly understand this, and it just kind of puzzled us that a conference that’s home to over 600 of our student athletes walking around this campus today, I guess, chose to go down that road. I guess, intellectually, I understand it but I certainly don’t agree with it.”

Notre Dame is, of course, an Independent. That’s only in football, though. They’re in the ACC across the other sports that the conference sponsors. On top of that, they have a scheduling agreement with the ACC to play at least five games a season against the conference in football, which itself is very beneficial to the conference’s visibility. That’s an important relationship, which is where Bevacqua’s frustration stems from.

“Why would you attack an unbelievably important business partner of yours in football and a member of your conference in 24 other sports. I’m one person. I don’t see the logic in that. I know other leaders at the university didn’t see the logic in that. The ACC is important to us and we’re important to the ACC. Think about football for a minute. Those ACC teams want to play us in football. Interesting stat. Since 2014, when we started our football relationship with the ACC, if you look at stadiums, ACC games sell out about roughly 23 percent of the time. When Notre Dame goes to an ACC site, it’s 90 percent of the time. When you think about ratings for ACC football games when they play Notre Dame, there’s a tremendous lift,” Bevacqua said.

“I don’t understand why you would go on a social media campaign to attack an important partner. Who are some of our important partners in the football space? NBC. We wouldn’t do that to NBC.”

The challenge for the ACC in all of this was that Miami is a full member of the ACC. So, they had to support the Hurricanes. Doing that without taking a shot at Notre Dame would have been very difficult, but it also doesn’t change how Bevacqua feels now.

“Now, I understand that they have to stand up for their teams in football,” Bevacqua said. “We just think there’s other ways to do it. It has created damage. I’m not going to shy away from that. That’s not just me speaking. People a lot more important at this university than me feel the same way. So, I think it has done some real damage and I think the ACC knows that.”

How much this apparent strain affects Notre Dame and the ACC remains to be seen. It’s even possible that strain is repaired in time. For now, though, it’s become a fascinating bit of CFP fallout to follow.