Posted on 12/13/2025 5:46:05 PM PST by BradyLS
I’ve learned that Notre Dame has decided to opt out of any post-season bowl games this year. They finished the season with a 10-2 record, losing to Miami and Texas A&M. I know they are an independent program/not a part of any conference.
Is this a reasonable decision? Unreasonable? If they played a strong schedule or have a record of beating teams that made it to the 12-team cut-off, I can see understand their POV. (Not saying it’s right. Just that I understand it.)
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
I have a feeling they will make a tweak for next season, where the field will expand to 14 teams, but with the 11th and 12th seeds playing the best two G5 teams the week before the first round.
If this was in effect this year, you would have Tulane visiting BYU, and James Madison visiting Notre Dame.
🤣
If they had a worthy record but were simply voted out, what is the up-side in playing a post-season game that won’t matter?
* * *
I think this is a GOOD reason not to play. All the top flight teams — if they don’t get in the playoffs, why don’t they let other teams across the country get a chance to build their programs and maybe go to a bowl game they rarely get a chance to play in.
Because they are butthurt about losing to Miami and a bunch of entitled pricks. I don’t even think that college believes in Jesus Christ as well, their curriculum sure as hades doesn’t reflect Christianity anymore.
That’s sure going to draw in the recruits! 🙄
Maybe there should be a playoff system of sorts. Not this pick ‘em game they play every year.
Because the university is run by petulant children!!
With the establishment of the NCAA playoff system for football, these bowl games have lost a lot of their appeal. One of the downsides of accepting a bowl bid is that the schools that compete have to take on a sizable cost that is offset by ticket sales, and in recent years the attendance at many of these minor bowl games has been atrocious. For 2024, many of those games drew fewer than 15,000 fans.
ND threw a tantrum because they felt that the CFP violated their unwritten agreement that ND would qualify for the playoff if they were able to find 11 people to wear a Fighting Irish football uniform.
ND is independent only in football. All other ND sports compete in the ACC. Why is this? I believe there are 2 reasons. 1) they expect preferential treatment where the CFP is concerned and 2) They do not want to lose their exclusive contract with NBC to air ND home games. They do not want to share TV money with other teams if they were to join a conference.
IF they were in the ACC this year they would have certainly qualified for the conference championship game and would have been the heavy favorite to win. A conference championship would have almost certainly gotten them a bid to the playoffs. So, ultimately, this is situation is all their own doing.
Not participating in a bowl game is because of the ND sense of entitlement. Personally, I will not miss them one bit.
Showing my age here, I know, but a long time ago, the bowl games on NY’s day were something special and a really big deal.
The $$$$ differential for a CFP vs an ACC (they are treated like an ACC member when it comes to non CFP ACC bowl affiliated matchups) affiliated bowl game is considerable.
I don’t know if Notre Dame has to share any CFP money with the ACC because they claim Independence in that case, but they certainly have the ACC hand in their elitist pocket if they accept an ACC affiliated bowl bid..
And they have a mad against the ACC right now.
So, the children at Notre Dame have zero interest of having anything to do with an ACC affiliated bowl game this year.
I think there are something like 40 bowl games! When there were 5 or 6, they were interesting and meaningful. Even the names of many bowl games now highlight how meaningless and uninteresting they are.
It’s basically like the NIT in basketball.
1. The players get the bowl game experience.
2. They most likely get to play a school they don't normally schedule.
3. They get an extra three weeks of practice / player development.
4. They aren't hurting for money, but there is a payout.
5. Maybe they get to play in a good, competitive game (or maybe they blow somebody out and can say "see, we should have been on the playoff."
6. They build some goodwill by playing in the game
7. They wouldn't look like the whiney "take my ball and go home" brats that they now look like.
Snoop Dog Bowl, Cricket Bowl, Pop Tarts Bowl, Bucked Up Bowl, Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, Scooters Bowl, Bad Boy Mowers Bowl to name must a few……really?
Many refuse to play in those games because they don’t want to risk getting hurt before the NFL draft. Undefeated Florida State is a recent perfect example.
AKA the Nobody’s Interested Tournament.
They beat 8 teams with 2 wins each. Weak, weak schedule. Did not want to get blown out in a bowl.
Because they are Notre Dame. You don’t beat Miami you have nothing to whine about.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.