Big 12 Conference Commissioner Calls Notre Dame Remarks After CFP Omission as ‘Totally Out of Bounds’

During a strong rebuke, Brett Yormark declared that Notre Dame athletic director, Pete Bevacqua, was “totally out of bounds” for his remarks targeting the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

The Source of the Dispute

Notre Dame maintains a gridiron scheduling agreement with the ACC and is a participating member in all other sports. The AD has claimed that the ACC harmed Notre Dame’s opportunities to enter the College Football Playoff, instead choosing to advocating for the inclusion of the University of Miami.

“They does wonderful things for Notre Dame, but we bring significant football value to the ACC, and we didn’t understand why you would go out of your way to try to hurt us in this procedure,” the athletic director remarked.

The Hurricanes eventually secured the CFP spot over Notre Dame, largely due to winning the head-to-head meeting between the two programs. Bevacqua additionally stated that the ACC ran a coordinated social media campaign over multiple weeks showing its support for Miami.

An Egregious Reaction

Later on Tuesday, the Big 12 commissioner addressed the criticism at the Sports Business Journal’s Intercollegiate Athletics Forum.

“I think his conduct has been unacceptable,” the commissioner stated. “He is completely out of bounds in his approach and if he was in the same room, I’d tell him the same thing.”

This public pushback is especially notable given Bevacqua’s prominent position. He sits on the College Football Playoff Management Committee alongside the ten FBS conference commissioners, advocating for the interests of independent Notre Dame.

Past Context and Speculative Moves

Yormark also remarked the assistance the ACC provided Notre Dame during the pandemic-disrupted 2020 season, providing the Irish a complete ACC schedule and a place in its championship game.

“It has been unacceptable,” Yormark said again. “It’s been egregious going after the ACC commissioner, when they saved Notre Dame during Covid...”

Talk had spread about Notre Dame possibly splitting with the ACC and partnering with the Big 12. However, Yormark's strong reprimand on Tuesday appear to make such a move highly improbable in the immediate future.

The Irish, who reached the CFP final last season, have stated they are declining a bowl game after missing out this season.