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Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua on his football game-day routine
Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua on his favorite aspects of watching Irish football games from the sideline.
SOUTH BEND — Notre Dame football season doesn’t start until Labor Day weekend, but the Irish may have already scored their first big victory of 2025 before Memorial Day.
According to ESPN, the independent Irish are now eligible for a first-round bye in a 12-team College Football Playoff that would include a straight-seeding format.
Under the previous agreement, only the four highest-ranked conference champions received automatic placement in the quarterfinals. That left Notre Dame with a best-case scenario of a No. 5 seed.
The 10 FBS conference commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua agreed to the new format in a conference call Thursday, May 22, per ESPN.
Had the new format been in place last season, fifth-ranked Notre Dame would have opened with a first-round home game against No. 12 Clemson instead of hosting a 7-10 matchup with Indiana.
Had the Irish prevailed in Round 1, they would have faced No. 4 seed Penn State in a quarterfinal bowl game instead of second-seeded Georgia.
Notre Dame reeled off three straight CFP wins before losing to eighth-seeded Ohio State in the national championship game on Jan. 20.
Momentum for the adjusted format built after all four teams that received first-round byes lost in the 2024 quarterfinals. That group included Group of Five representative Boise State (Mountain West) and Big 12 champion Arizona State.
A move to a 14- or even 16-team playoff looms as a possibility as soon as the 2026 CFP.
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and…
Source link : https://www.southbendtribune.com/story/sports/college/football/2025/05/22/report-cfp-notre-dame-to-receive-first-round-bye-in-2025-marcus-freeman-pete-bevacqua/83670556007/
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Publish date : 2025-05-22 19:42:00
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