Notre Dame declines bowl bid after missing CFP

Notre Dame's 2025 season is officially finished, as the Fighting Irish announced Sunday that they withdrew from consideration for a bowl game.

The decision comes just hours after Notre Dame missed out on the College Football Playoff. The committee moved Miami into the 12-team field at the expense of the Fighting Irish.

Notre Dame was then invited to play BYU in the Pop-Tarts Bowl, sources told On3's Brett McMurphy. While that matchup would've been arguably the top non-CFP bowl game, the team declined.

The 10-2 Irish became the third program choosing to forgo bowl season after Kansas State and Iowa State announced their intentions earlier Sunday.

Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua heavily criticized the committee and its selection process following the CFP reveal.

"There is no explanation that could possibly be given to explain the outcome," Bevacqua told Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports. "As I said to (head coach Marcus Freeman), one thing is for sure: Any rankings or show prior to this last one is an absolute joke and a waste of time. Why put these young student-athletes through these false emotions just to pull the rug out from underneath them having not played a game in two weeks and then a group of people in a room shatter their dreams without explanation?"

Notre Dame entered conference championship weekend firmly in the CFP bracket, but BYU's loss in the Big 12 title game proved enough for the committee to drop the Cougars and move Miami alongside the Irish in the rankings.

CFP chair Hunter Yurachek told ESPN on Sunday that the Big 12 result led the committee to put Miami ahead of Notre Dame based on the Hurricanes' head-to-head victory over the Irish in Week 1.

If Notre Dame fans - and administrators - can take any solace in the news, it's that they won't be left out in similar situations in the future. Bevacqua told Dellenger that a memorandum of understanding signed by CFP officials last spring guarantees the Irish a spot in the field if they're in the top 12 of the final rankings, beginning in 2026. If that agreement was in place this season, Miami - the final at-large team - would've been pushed out of the bracket in favor of No. 11 Notre Dame.