On Sunday, Notre Dame and BYU were the first two teams left out of the College Football Playoff’s 12-team field, and many began to surmise that the Fighting Irish and Cougars would face each other in the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando on Dec. 27.
However, on Sunday afternoon the Notre Dame football program released a statement saying it had decided to not participate in a bowl this season after getting left out of the CFP, and On3’s Brett McMurphy reported that more specifically, Notre Dame declined an invitation to face BYU in the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
“As a team, we’ve decided to withdraw our name from consideration for a bowl game following the 2025 season,” Notre Dame’s statement read.
“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.”
Instead, BYU will face Georgia Tech in the Pop-Tarts Bowl, McMurphy reported a short time later.
McMurphy reported that Notre Dame considered its decision “for nearly an hour” before opting out.
Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger spoke with Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua prior to the school announcing it was opting out of bowl season, with Bevacqua saying, “My feelings and the feelings here are just shock and, really, an absolute sense of sadness for our student-athletes.
“Overwhelming shock and sadness. Like a collective feeling that we were all just punched in the stomach.”
Bevacqua went on to say the weekly ranking shows should be done away with. He also told Dellenger, as Dellenger wrote, that “as part of a memorandum of understanding signed by CFP officials last spring, Notre Dame will be assured of making the playoff if it is ranked in the top 12 starting next year.”
The BYU-Notre Dame bowl matchup would have been notable not only because of the quality of the teams, but also the fact that both schools are faith-based institutions.
It would have been the 10th meeting all-time between the two sides.
Notre Dame became the third bowl-eligible team this season to opt out of playing in a bowl, though certainly the most high profile, joining Big 12 teams Iowa State and Kansas State after they underwent coaching changes.
As an independent, Notre Dame does not have bowl contract obligations like teams in conferences do, and Iowa State and Kansas State were each fined $500,000 for their decision.