Notre Dame: College football’s spoiled brat

By Chris Marler

I never thought I would write this much about Notre Dame, nor did I ever want to. But it’s been a wild 24 hours in college football, as yesterday the bluest of blue bloods in the sport were left out of the 12 team College Football Playoff. The explanation as to why was the only thing more befuddling than the timing of it. Despite a 10-2 record and being widely considered one of the best teams in the country by all kinds of metrics, analytics, and computer rankings, Notre Dame was ultimately left out. 

It’s tough news to hear for sure. Finding out your chances of winning a title are over, after all the work in the offseason, ups and downs of the actual season, and everything else that goes along with it is never easy for any athlete, team, or program.

Naturally, the tradition rich, holier than thou, elitists from Notre Dame handled it maturely. 

Pete Bevacqua to @YahooSports: “Any rankings or show prior to this last one is an absolute joke and a waste of time. If the rankings shows are legitimate, there is no logical explanation of what happened to us. Have one ranking show at the end, like Sunday.” https://t.co/vW3StZLzU0

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) December 7, 2025

I’m kidding. They pitched a fit and opted out of playing a bowl game within two hours of finding out the news. 

The news was equally shocking as it was petty and childish. Notre Dame had a really good team this year, and in my opinion, they were a playoff caliber team. But the collective pearl clutching and irrational outburst from the program, fans, and especially the athletic director has been comical. That’s one word for it. Pathetic is another. 

Remember when Notre Dame destroyed Miami throughout the 1970s but when the Hurricanes became great in the 1980s, the Irish decided to stop fighting and canceled the series?

This is who they are. pic.twitter.com/ppyIcVnB87

— Armando Salguero (@ArmandoSalguero) December 7, 2025

Of all the teams who shouldn’t have a leg to stand on when it comes to complaining about fair versus unfair or claims about inherent media bias, Notre Dame is far and away at the top. It’s not even close. Notre Dame complaining about a national conspiracy to keep them out of the CFP in favor of someone less deserving is like Texas fans complaining that Texas Tech and Texas A&M are only good because they paid for all their players. 

That entire attitude is frustrating and lacking in self-awareness for so many reasons. 

It’s not just because Notre Dame isn’t in a conference. It’s not just because they have their own television network deal and are currently complaining about ESPN conference bias. It’s not just that they are ranked lower than Alabama in strength of record, strength of schedule, and opponent win percentage but insist their resumé is stronger because of who they lost to and not who they beat. 

It’s all of those things. 

No team in this sport has been catered to more than Notre Dame. That includes when it comes to the 12 team playoff. 

Remember, just last year the rules in place stated only teams that won a conference title would be eligible for a first round bye. Meaning 11-1 Notre Dame couldn’t get a bye: Boise State and Arizona State did. That rule was changed immediately following the season. And, it benefitted one team in the sport way more than any other – the one not playing in a conference. 

Fast forward to the last 24 hours where Notre Dame fans and some in the national media have spent every waking moment applauding their defiance in sitting out a bowl while banging the drum for the travesty of them being left out. 

Some even went as far as to call this 10-2 Notre Dame team with one win over a ranked opponent all season the best team ever snubbed from the playoff or national championship. It’s unprecedented. It’s whatever other overdramatic embellishment you can think of. 

Guys, it’s quite literally none of those things. 

Where was this attitude two years ago when back-to-back national champion Georgia had won 29 straight games, but lost by three in the SEC Championship game? They dropped a 12-1 UGA team who hadn’t lost a regular season game in three years to No. 6. Georgia took a different route than the one Notre Dame is currently embarking on. They decided to play the Orange Bowl against Florida State and won 63-3. And they did so not just to prove a point, but because they wanted to compete. 

And through all the crocodile tears flowing from Irish eyes, we found out yesterday that Notre Dame has a MOU in place with the CFP that was signed last Spring that will guarantee them a spot in the playoff every year moving forward if they’re ranked in the Top 12 at the time of the final rankings. If the playoffs were to expand to 14 teams like it was rumored to this offseason they would be guaranteed a spot if they were ranked in the top 13. 

A newsy wrinkle from Bevacqua: As part of an MOU signed last spring, Notre Dame is assured of a CFP berth if it is ranked in the top 12 starting next year.

If this year’s situation unfolds next year, the final at-large team (Miami) would have gotten bumped for No. 11 Notre Dame.

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) December 7, 2025

No other team in the country has that agreement in place. 

Yet, the one time they didn’t get their way as the overly spoiled favorite child of college football, they pitched a fit, picked up their ball, and went home. 

Notre Dame has every right to be upset about missing the playoff this year. But the gaslighting and victim playing is gross in general right now in this sport, especially coming from that school.