Big 12 Commissioner Labels Notre Dame Comments Following CFP Omission as ‘Totally Out of Bounds’
In a notable statement, Big 12 Conference commissioner declared that Notre Dame athletic director, Pete Bevacqua, was “totally out of bounds” for his comments about the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
Root of the Controversy
The Fighting Irish has a football scheduling alliance with the ACC and is a participating member in other sports. The AD has claimed that the ACC actively damaged Notre Dame’s opportunities to enter the College Football Playoff, instead campaigning for the selection of the University of Miami.
“They does great things for Notre Dame, but we provide significant football value to the ACC, and we couldn't comprehend why you would make an effort to try to hurt us in this process,” Bevacqua said.
The Hurricanes ultimately earned the CFP berth over Notre Dame, largely due to winning the direct contest between the two programs. Notre Dame's AD additionally stated that the ACC ran a coordinated social media campaign over multiple weeks indicating its preference for Miami.
An Egregious Reaction
Later on Tuesday, the Big 12 commissioner spoke about the criticism at the Sports Business Journal’s Intercollegiate Athletics Forum.
“In my view his conduct has been unacceptable,” Yormark stated. “He is totally out of bounds in his method and if he was in the same room, I’d say to him the same thing.”
The pushback is particularly notable given Bevacqua’s prominent standing. He serves on the College Football Playoff Management Committee with the ten FBS conference commissioners, representing the interests of football independent Notre Dame.
Past Support and Future Moves
Yormark also highlighted the assistance the ACC provided Notre Dame in the Covid-affected 2020 season, giving the Irish a complete ACC schedule and a berth in its title game.
“His behavior has been egregious,” he said again. “It’s been egregious going after the ACC commissioner, when they saved Notre Dame during Covid...”
Talk had circulated about Notre Dame potentially splitting with the ACC and partnering with the Big 12. Yet, the commissioner's public reprimand on Tuesday seem to make such a scenario highly improbable in the immediate future.
Notre Dame, who made the CFP final last season, have stated they will decline a bowl game after missing out this year.
