Notre Dame AD points to major rift with ACC as playoff fallout takes a new turn

Notre Dame competes in the ACC for 24 sports but keeps football independent. The Fighting Irish have a scheduling deal with the conference that brings significant revenue to both sides.

Bevacqua called Notre Dame the ACC's biggest business partner in football, which made the conference's public campaigning for Miami that much harder to understand. Miami athletic director Dan Radakovich is someone Bevacqua considers a friend. His issue sits with the conference office, not the schools. Bevacqua says the conference attacked Notre Dame despite its partnership in other sports.

"I have tremendous respect for Miami. Great team, great school. Their athletic director, Dan Radakovich, is a good friend, and all the teams in the ACC are great, wonderful universities," Bevacqua said. "We had no gripes about any of the schools in the ACC. But we were mystified by the actions at that conference to attack, you know, their biggest, really, business partner in football and a member of their conference in 24 of our other sports. And I would tell you, Dan, I wouldn't be honest with you if I didn't say that they have certainly done permanent damage to the relationship between the conference and Notre Dame."

Louisville and SMU both beat the Hurricanes during the regular season, but neither team cracked the final top 25. Notre Dame's only losses came to Miami by three points and Texas A&M by one point, both of which were playoff teams.

"We didn't appreciate the fact that we were singled out repeatedly and compared to Miami. Not by Miami. Miami has every right to do that. And that's just not something we chose to do," Bevacqua said.

Bevacqua also brought up what he called universal confusion about how Notre Dame got left out. He mentioned Nick Saban questioning the decision after the bracket was revealed on Sunday, saying the former Alabama coach knows more about college football than maybe anyone in history.

As things stand, Notre Dame's relationship with the ACC seems to sit in an unclear place heading into next season, though Bevacqua told Patrick that the Fighting Irish remain independent in football with no plans to join a conference.