🔗 Share this article Big 12 Conference Chief Labels Notre Dame Remarks After CFP Omission as ‘Completely Out of Bounds’ During a public rebuke, Brett Yormark stated that Notre Dame's AD, Pete Bevacqua, was “completely out of bounds” for public criticisms about the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The Source of the Controversy Notre Dame maintains a gridiron scheduling agreement with the ACC and is a participating member in other sports. The AD has claimed that the ACC harmed Notre Dame’s opportunities to make the College Football Playoff, instead pushing for the selection of the University of Miami. “The ACC do wonderful things for Notre Dame, but we provide significant football value to the ACC, and we didn’t understand why you would make an effort to try to hurt us in this process,” Bevacqua stated. Miami eventually secured the CFP berth over Notre Dame, mostly due to securing the direct meeting between the two schools. Bevacqua also claimed that the ACC conducted a coordinated social media push over multiple weeks indicating its support for Miami. An Egregious Rebuke Subsequently on Tuesday, Yormark addressed the criticism at the Sports Business Journal’s Intercollegiate Athletics Forum. “My opinion is that his actions has been unacceptable,” Yormark said. “He is totally out of bounds in his tactics and if he was in the same room, I’d tell him the same thing.” This public response is especially significant given Bevacqua’s special standing. He serves on the College Football Playoff Management Committee alongside the ten FBS conference commissioners, representing the interests of independent Notre Dame. Historical Context and Speculative Moves The commissioner also remarked the assistance the ACC provided Notre Dame in the Covid-affected 2020 season, giving the Irish a full conference schedule and a berth in its title game. “His behavior has been unacceptable,” he said again. “It’s been unacceptable criticizing the ACC commissioner, when they saved Notre Dame during Covid...” Speculation had circulated about Notre Dame potentially splitting with the ACC and aligning with the Big 12. Yet, the commissioner's strong comments on Tuesday appear to make such a scenario less likely in the immediate future. The Irish, who reached the CFP final last season, have announced they are declining a postseason invitation after failing to qualify this year.