Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua went on the Dan Patrick Show on Monday morning.
On Sunday’s rankings:
“That's the question. I don't know how we got here. That's kind of what we have a problem with. I don't have a good answer for you. I’ve had lot of conversations here on campus the last 24 hours as you can imagine. I want to make one thing clear, Dan, we have no problems with the teams that made it in. They're all great teams. Miami's a great team. Alabama's a great team. Texas, Vanderbilt, we're a great team.
“What we're so confused by and frustrated with is the process. Wvery step along the way since the first CFP rankings came out, we were led to believe we were in as long as we took care of business. We certainly took care of business with this 10-game winning streak. Then you think about that first ranking, we and Miami were both 6-2. They had obviously already beat us the first game of the year. They were 18th. We were 10th. The only thing that we did since that point was win every game by over an average of over 30 points.
“All of a sudden, we're 11th and on the outside looking in. When we sit and talk, when I talk to Marcus, when we talk to our team, we don't have any good answers for that. So we're just really frustrated that we had the rug pulled out from underneath us, Dan.”
On if he was able to lobby on Sunday morning or if they knew the decision had been made already:
“I don't know exactly when the decision was made. We made our case. We stayed at our point of view. But again, if you're us, we were told from day one of the rankings that we were in and we were ninth. Then all of a sudden, we go play a game against Stanford – it felt like in the middle of the night and we took care of business and Alabama has a really tough game against an Auburn team that's having a tough year.
“We wake up on Tuesday and we fall below Alabama for the first time. And it was all about the fierce conversation between Notre Dame and Alabama. I heard something to the effect that Alabama went for it on fourth down. So that made an impression. Our heads were spinning, like, where's the logic? Where's the rationale? Why are we being kind of punted?
On the ACC’s campaign for Miami:
“I have tremendous respect for Miami. Great team, great school. Their athletic director, Dan Radakovich, is a good friend. All the teams in the ACC, great, wonderful universities. We have no gripes about any of the schools in the ACC.
“We were mystified by the actions of the conference to attack their biggest, really, business partner in football and a member of their conference in 24 of our other sports. I would tell you, Dan, I wouldn't be honest with you if I didn't say that they have certainly done permanent damage to the relationship between the conference and Notre Dame.”
On why there is permanent damage between the ACC and Notre Dame:
“We didn't appreciate the fact that we were singled out repeatedly and compared to Miami. Not by Miami. Miami has every right to do that, but it raised a lot of eyebrows here that the conference was taking shots at us. That's just not something we chose to do. We wouldn't choose to do that in the future. People might disagree with us, but that's just not something that we'd be comfortable with.
“Again, we have no problem with any of these teams. These are all great teams. You look at those teams, Miami, like I said, great season. They beat us. You think about Alabama. Nobody's had more success in college football over the last decade than Alabama. But Dan, you follow this sport so closely. Everybody was saying that we were one of a handful of teams that could win this whole thing and now we have zero percent chance.
“Even Nick Saban, nobody knows more about college football, maybe in the history of the world than Nick Saban. He said it yesterday, like, how is Notre Dame not in this? I mean, everybody is just kind of confused and perplexed. We don't have good answers for the kids on our team, for our student athletes.”
On if Notre Dame is going to reevaluate its relationship with the ACC:
“I would just say it's been strained.”
On if the relationship with the ACC is irreparable:
“Well, you never say irreparable, but it's opened our eyes and it caught our attention. We'll move past this like we are. As you know, we're already focused on next season. We made the decision not to play in a bowl game, as I know you're well aware.
“A lot of people have asked me about that. We watched the presentation show, the selection show with the team, and then Marcus, like he always does, was wonderful, got up, and for somebody that always has great answers, he was brutally honest with the team and said he didn't have a lot of answers, doesn't understand how this happened, why this happened, why a team that thought it was doing what it needed to do all of a sudden kind of woke up on kind of the wrong side of this.
“As you're kind of dealing with that, you start getting these calls from other bowls. The role of a captain on the Notre Dame football team is a role that the program and Marcus takes very, very seriously. He talked to all the captains, said, ‘Hey, what are you guys thinking? What is the team thinking? Let's talk about this.’
“The captains and some of the other underclassmen on the team said, ‘Listen, we are such a close-knit team. We've done so much this season. We overcame those two opening losses. We rallied. We dominated in the last 10 games. We can't imagine taking the field not as that team.’
“It's reality, Dan. You know that certain players wouldn't participate in that game. You think about somebody with the future that he has, like a Jeremiyah Love, a Jadarian Price, Eli Rairdon, Aamil Wagner, who's one of the most impressive people I've met in my life, who hopefully after he's done playing football, I hope he runs for president one day.
“It just wouldn't be the same. Made the decision that it was time to start thinking about next season, give these student-athletes a break. They have exams coming up. Hopefully they'll go home and spend Christmas and the holidays with their family and friends.”
On if not playing in a bowl game is a message:
“Well, we're not happy, Dan. That's for sure.”
On if Notre Dame is guaranteed a playoff spot if they are ranked 12 or higher next season:
“Yeah, I don't want to say too much about the memorandum of understanding, but that's certainly been reported. That's out there and what you said is accurate.”
On if Notre Dame is ranked in the top 12 next year, they are automatically in the playoffs:
“Correct.”
On if everyone in the College Football Playoff agreed to it:
“Well, it was part of the negotiations as we were contemplating the various changes that go into the committee and in preparation for the extension of the ESPN deal.”
On if the playoffs will move to a 16-team field:
“Dan, I go back to what I said when you were here on campus for the USC game. I firmly believe that the right answer is 16 teams with five automatic qualifiers and 11 at-large. Maybe there's no perfect answers.
“Think about this year, Dan. Say we were four teams. There wouldn't be any arguments. I mean, those four teams, I think that's crystal clear. Those are the right four teams. I don't think anybody would argue. So four, 12, 14, 16, I happen to think 16 is the answer. I think the overwhelming majority of the people in the College Football Management Committee room agree with me.
“I think anything beyond 16, in my opinion, is a mistake because it would interfere with the importance of the regular season. And oh, by the way, did we feel that this year? But that's important. We had two tough games. We certainly got better over the course of the season, but we lost to two great teams by a total of four points. We felt we had zero wiggle room. We felt we did what we needed to do. Turns out we didn't have a chance and that's what's so disappointing. But I think 16 teams with the five and 11 format is the way to go, Dan.”
On when the 16-team playoff is decided or voted on:
“It's been a series of conversations for the better part of a year or more. As you saw, it was reported that we have a bit of an extension from when we need to inform ESPN of what the format will be. We'll meet as a group over the National Championship weekend. I'm not sure if anything's going to get resolved as it relates to format in that room at that time. But these conversations are ongoing.
“If I had to guess what happens next year, I think there's a good chance we stay at 12. I hope we can keep pushing for 16, but Dan, I just don't know how that's going to end.”
On if Notre Dame can be a catalyst for change:
“We're frustrated with the process, not the teams. They're all great teams. And it's a bunch of teams. BYU has a great argument, Texas, Vanderbilt, Miami, Alabama, Notre Dame. We all have great arguments. It's the process that bothers us.”
On the ranking show:
“They bother me too. If we had assembled as a team on Sunday and rankings hadn't told us for the previous weeks, we're in, we're in, we're in, take care of business, take care of business. And hey, you know what, Notre Dame, you're 11 and now you're going to get squeezed out because of the conference tie-ins and Miami beat you. And hey, I get it.
“But these ranking shows, as I said yesterday, like what's the point? Why kind of send these signals and get the hopes up of these, of these teams, these coaches, these kids on the team that believe they're doing everything necessary. And then, like I said, it just felt in that room, a collective sense of a rug being taken out from under us without any explanation that I've heard, Dan, that has me feeling better about it.”
On fans believing Notre Dame has sour grapes:
“Well, listen, everybody kind of wants to do right by their team. We felt like we did what we needed to do this season to earn a spot in the college football playoffs. We feel that we have one of the very best teams in the country.
“I think the majority of people who follow this sport so closely agree. Every indication we had from that first ranking suggested that the committee agreed with us. We were always being compared to Alabama. We couldn't possibly have ended the year any better than we did.
“I get why people think it's sour grapes, but, you know, it's disappointment, Dan. We take this seriously, as do other universities. The rankings can't just be musical chairs at some fifth-grade birthday party. They have to mean something. And to me, what happened to us really kind of was alarming.”
On if he’s anti-Pop-Tarts:
“The irony in that is I love Pop-Tarts and I particularly love the brown sugar Pop-Tarts. I probably eat too many of them. I'm a huge fan of Pop-Tarts. That's nothing to do with Pop-Tarts.”
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