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

During a notable rebuke, Big 12 Conference commissioner asserted that Notre Dame's athletic director, Pete Bevacqua, was “entirely out of bounds” for public comments targeting the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

Root of the Dispute

Notre Dame maintains a gridiron scheduling agreement with the ACC and is a full member in all other sports. The AD has argued that the ACC actively damaged Notre Dame’s chances to qualify for the College Football Playoff, instead choosing to advocating for the inclusion of the University of Miami.

“The ACC does great things for Notre Dame, but we bring significant football value to the ACC, and we didn’t understand why you would make an effort to try to undermine us in this process,” the athletic director stated.

Miami eventually earned the CFP invitation over Notre Dame, primarily due to winning the head-to-head matchup between the two programs. Notre Dame's AD additionally stated that the ACC ran a coordinated social media campaign over multiple weeks indicating its support 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 egregious,” Yormark commented. “He is completely out of bounds in his approach and if he was in the same room, I’d say to him the same thing.”

The response is particularly striking given Bevacqua’s special 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 Context and Speculative Moves

The commissioner also highlighted the lifeline the ACC offered Notre Dame in the Covid-affected 2020 season, providing the Irish a full ACC schedule and a berth in its championship game.

“His behavior has been unacceptable,” he reiterated. “It’s been unacceptable attacking the ACC commissioner, when they helped Notre Dame during Covid...”

Rumors had circulated about Notre Dame possibly splitting with the ACC and partnering with the Big 12. However, Yormark's strong reprimand on Tuesday seem to make such a partnership unlikely in the immediate future.

Notre Dame, who reached the CFP final last season, have indicated they plan to decline a postseason invitation after missing out this season.