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Newsstand: ACC commissioner responds to Notre Dame AD Pete Bevacqua

Singer headshotby: Mike Singer12/09/25MikeTSinger

Notre Dame athletics director Pete Bevacqua made an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show on Monday morning and made his feelings known about the Irish being left out of the College Football Playoff after being safely in the field in each of the Tuesday night rankings shows.

He also said that there was “permanent damage” done regarding Notre Dame’s relationship with the ACC, after weeks of the conference’s public lobbying of Miami against the Irish. While ND is only a partial member of the ACC in football, it has a scheduling agreement with the conference and is a full member in 24 other sports, including men’s and women’s basketball.

Bevacqua said he has no issue with Miami itself or any of the ACC’s 17 member schools, whom he called “wonderful universities.” But the conference’s behavior on social media and otherwise throughout the past five weeks was alarming to Notre Dame’s athletics director.

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips released a statement to essentially respond to Bevacqua’s comments:

“The University of Notre Dame is an incredibly valued member of the ACC and there is tremendous respect and appreciation for the entire institution,” Phillips wrote. “With that said, when it comes to football, we have a responsibility to support and advocate for all 17 of our football-playing member institutions, and I stand behind our conference efforts to do just that leading up to the College Football Playoff Committee selections on Sunday.

“At no time was it suggested by the ACC that Notre Dame was not a worthy candidate for inclusion in the field. We are thrilled for the University of Miami while also understanding and appreciating the significant disappointment of the Notre Dame players, coaches and program.”

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Bevacqua on the ESPN CFP Tuesday night rankings show:

“Well, they bother me too, because if we had assembled as a team on Sunday and rankings hadn’t told us for the previous weeks, we’re in, we’re in, we’re in, take care of business, take care of business. And hey, you know what, Notre Dame? You’re 11, and now you’re going to get squeezed out because of the conference tie-ins, and Miami beat you. Hey, I get it.

“But these ranking shows, as I said yesterday, like, what’s the point? Why send these signals and get the hopes up of these teams, these coaches, these kids on the team that believe they’re doing everything necessary? And then, like I said, it just felt in that room a collective sense of the rug being taken out from under us. Without any explanation that I’ve heard, Dan, that has me feeling better about it.”

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