Notre Dame might finally be done playing nice with the ACC. After getting left out of the College Football Playoff, Irish Athletic Director Pete Bevacqua went on the Dan Patrick Show and let it rip. He didn’t sugarcoat anything. Said flat out the ACC did “permanent damage” to its relationship with Notre Dame, and the way he talked about it, he meant every word.
The problem? The ACC went full-court press, trying to get Miami into the playoff, and in the process, they took public shots at Notre Dame. Bevacqua said the Irish were “singled out repeatedly,” and yeah, he’s right. The ACC didn’t exactly hide its preference for getting one of its own into the dance, even if it meant throwing a longtime scheduling partner under the bus. That wasn’t just bad behavior; it was dumb.
For context, Notre Dame has been tied to the ACC in just about every sport outside of football for years now. In exchange, the Irish play five or six ACC games a year on the gridiron, keeping a foot in both camps while maintaining independence. It’s a setup that’s worked for a while, mostly because both sides pretended everything was cool.
Not anymore.
Bevacqua made it clear that the trust is gone. The idea that Notre Dame would stay neutral while the ACC actively lobbies against them isn’t going to fly. When the league chose playoff politicking over partnership, they broke whatever handshake agreement had been holding this thing together.
It’s not like Notre Dame was ever going to join a conference just because the TV money was better. But if they were leaning toward keeping the ACC relationship intact, this latest stunt might have been the final push out the door.
The wild part? Bevacqua didn’t say anything about walking away from the scheduling deal, yet. But the tone was different. Defensive. Done playing diplomat. The ACC tried to get cute, and now they might lose the biggest name they’ve got attached to their brand.
Notre Dame doesn’t forget stuff like this. And if the ACC thought this would blow over, they clearly don’t know who they’re dealing with.
