Notre Dame football’s season has come to an end, with the Fighting Irish declining a bowl invitation.
The Fighting Irish failed to reach the College Football Playoff despite finishing with a 10-2 record and 10 consecutive wins to finish the regular season. They lost to Miami and Texas A&M, which both earned CFP bids this season, in the first two weeks of action.
Notre Dame was ranked No. 10 in the final CFP rankings before the bracket reveal, but was bounced to No. 12 in favor of Miami on Sunday, Dec. 7, which the committee said came down to the Hurricanes’ head-to-head win.
Alabama, Miami and Notre Dame were the top contenders for the final two at-large bids in the CFP this season, and the CFP committee was set up to spark controversy, regardless.
Here’s why Notre Dame is declining a bowl invitation, thus ending its season.
Why is Notre Dame skipping a bowl game?
Notre Dame’s decision to skip a bowl game starts with its omission from the CFP, as the Fighting Irish were kept out of the 12-team bracket in rather controversial fashion.
Notre Dame, the first team out of the playoff, would’ve had likely the best available bowl that wasn’t a CFP game, likely going to the Pop-Tarts Bowl or the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl. With the CFP’s expansion to 12 teams, though, those bowl games have become increasingly irrelevant to many teams. Players set to be NFL or transfer portal bound opted out of the non-New Year’s Six bowls anyway prior to the CFP even expanding.
‘Bowl games not affiliated with the CFB playoff are destined to become the Pro Bowl (extinct),’ wrote Fox analyst Brady Quinn, a former Notre Dame quarterback. ‘Why are we acting like these young men should sign up for an exhibition game that puts them at risk and benefits EVERYONE but them?’
Playing in a bowl game also offers teams 15 additional practices, which are essentially used for younger players to earn more reps ahead of the next season. Early enrollee freshmen from high school also sometimes participate early, giving them a head start at the college level.
Multiple other programs have also opted out of bowl games this season, although Kansas State and Iowa State did so due to changes at head coach. At least seven teams that finished 5-7 also opted out of bowl games, although those programs didn’t reach the 6-win threshold. The 5-7 teams were only eligible due to other teams opting out.
Notre Dame is making it pretty clear that college football’s most elite programs – at least as far as it’s concerned – are CFP or bust in the new 12-team CFP era.