Enter Brett Yormark into the fray that is the Notre Dame athletic director’s rampage over his school not making the College Football Playoff.
Pete Bevacqua has been verbose about his displeasure with how the ACC, in his mind, actively campaigned against Notre Dame while politicking for Miami’s CFP candidacy.
But the tirade has not sat well with people, and among them is the Big 12 commissioner, Yormark, who said Bevacqua was “out of bounds” for how he’s handled things since being left out of the playoff.
Notre Dame declined bowl game invites, and Bevacqua has been seething over how the ACC, in which the school is a conference member in 24 other sports except for football, “targeted” them.
Speaking at the Sports Business Journal’s Intercollegiate Athletics Forum on Tuesday, Yormark lashed out at Bevacqua.
“I don’t like how Notre Dame’s reacted to it,” Yormark said. “I think Pete, his behavior has been egregious. It’s been egregious going after [ACC commissioner] Jim Phillips when they saved Notre Dame during COVID. We all knew, and it was very transparent, [CFP chair] Hunter [Yurachek] was very transparent about it, the chair — that as Notre Dame and Miami got closer together, head-to-head would be a factor. OK? BYU lost. They came closer together, head-to-head made a difference in that decision. So I think he is totally out of bounds in his approach and if he was in the room, I’d tell him the same thing.”
Phillips did respond to Bevacqua’s comments on Monday in a statement in which the ACC commissioner struck a civil tone, calling Notre Dame an “incredibly valued member” of the conference.
The ACC commish also said that he stood behind the conference’s efforts to “advocate for all 17 of our football-playing member institutions.”
“At no time was it suggested by the ACC that Notre Dame was not a worthy candidate for inclusion in the field,” Phillips said in the statement. “We are thrilled for the University of Miami while also understanding and appreciating the significant disappointment of the Notre Dame players, coaches and program.”
