If Notre Dame can’t play in the College Football Playoff this season, it isn’t interested in playing in the postseason at all.
After being snubbed from the 2025 CFP, the Fighting Irish announced that they will withdraw their name from bowl game consideration.
“We appreciate all the support from our families and fans, and we’re hoping to bring the 12th national title to South Bend in 2026,” Notre Dame said in a statement.
Notre Dame finished the regular season 10-2 and was on the edge of CFP consideration heading into conference championship week. Ultimately, it didn’t have enough to get an at-large bid, with the final two at-large spots going to Alabama and Miami.
Notre Dame was ranked higher than Tulane and James Madison, but those two programs were the last two highest-ranked conference champions.
The Fighting Irish lost to Miami and Texas A&M to start the season, but were dominant to finish the year, winning all 10 of their last games by double digits. As good as Notre Dame looked, its strength of schedule wasn’t exactly that impressive.
Only one of the Fighting Irish’s final 10 opponents finished the season ranked, and most of their games were against mid- to bottom-tier ACC teams.
According to On3’s Brett McMurphy, Notre Dame was invited to play in the Pop-Tarts Bowl against BYU, which also just missed out on the Playoff despite an 11-2 record.
The Fighting Irish won’t be the only team skipping their bowl game this season. Both Iowa State and Kansas State are opting out of bowl season. The Cyclones recently lost their head coach, Matt Campbell, after he took the opening at Penn State. The Wildcats’ decision not to play in a bowl game comes after Chris Klieman announced his retirement earlier this week.
Notre Dame, Iowa State and Kansas State declining their bowl games opens the door for a few 5-7 teams to receive bowl bids, but it’s unclear who will play in their respective games.
