Notre Dame blasted for ‘poor leadership’ by bowl official

Notre Dame football endured a rigid Sunday that’ll likely be remembered for years to come. It started with the Fighting Irish snubbed out of the College Football Playoff selections.

Then, Notre Dame backed out of its invite to the Pop Tarts Bowl after learning its CFP fate. But one bowl official put ND on blast — calling out “poor leadership” out in South Bend.

Brett McMurphy of On3/Rivals revealed a conversation he had with a bowl official involving the Fighting Irish.

“What kind of message does Notre Dame send?” that bowl official asked McMurphy, which he posted on the social media website X, formerly Twitter. “We didn’t make the playoffs, so let’s just pack it up and go home. You think BYU’s not upset. Hell ya they are. So are other teams, but they sucked it up. That’s poor leadership.”

Notre Dame moves into 2026 after stunning CFP snub

ND and Miami sparked conversations about who gets into the 12-team playoff bracket.

But the Fighting Irish’s chances took a big hit when Texas Tech rolled past BYU in the Big 12 title game. Duke, at 7-5, winning the Atlantic Coast Conference didn’t help either.

The Hurricanes beating ND earlier this season helped their cause to get in. Group of Five representatives James Madison (Sun Belt) and Tulane (American Athletic Conference) had its own chances increase off ranking and record.

ND still presented the argument of beating No. 16 USC. But did take two losses against ranked opponents Miami and Texas A&M — the latter also getting in. Still, ND fans became heated in seeing three-loss Alabama sneak in — all thanks to beating No. 2 seed Georgia during the regular season.

By opting out of a bowl game, Georgia Tech became the Pop Tarts Bowl replacement. And the Yellow Jackets will face a BYU team that also got passed over by the CFP.

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