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Notre Dame AD 'Comfortable' Keeping Independent Status, Not Getting CFP Bracket Byes

Mike Chiari@@mikechiariX.com LogoFeatured Columnist IVJanuary 18, 2025

NEW ORLEANS, LA - JANUARY 02: A Notre Dame Fighting Irish football helmet sits on the sideline during the Notre Dame Fighting Irish versus Georgia Bulldogs College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl on January 2, 2025, at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, LA. (Photo by Jeffrey Vest/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Jeffrey Vest/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua suggested Saturday that the school has no plans to join a conference in football despite the current design of the College Football Playoff.

Speaking to reporters as part of the CFP National Championship Game's media availability, Bevacqua said:

"We're comfortable that if conference championship games continue as they're currently configured, part of the deal we made is that we wouldn't get a bye, and that's understandable. And quite frankly, I wouldn't trade that [first-round] Indiana game at Notre Dame Stadium for anything in the world, but you also have to be smart and strategic, and your odds of making a national championship game are increased if you get to play one less game."

Since the current CFP rules state that the top four conference champions in FBS receive a first-round bye in the CFP, Notre Dame is not eligible for a bye, as they are independent and not part of a conference.

That drawback did not adversely impact the Fighting Irish during the first-ever 12-team CFP, though, as they defeated Indiana, Georgia and Penn State en route to Monday's national title game against Ohio State.

Bevacqua went on to note that the alteration or elimination of conference championship games could potentially change the way the CFP and an independent team like Notre Dame is handled, saying:

"So I think a lot is going to depend on the fate of the conference championship games. Should they go away? And that's obviously not my decision. Should they be altered in some sort of material way where it's not the top two teams playing for a championship, but something else? Then I think we absolutely have to re-look at Notre Dame's ability to get a bye if we end up being one of the top four teams."

After going 11-1 during the regular season with their only loss coming in shocking fashion against MAC school Northern Illinois, the Irish were ranked No. 5 in the final CFP rankings.

That means they would not have gotten a bye even if the byes simply went to the top four seeds, although they would have conceivably had the easiest first-round game against the No. 12 seed.

After No. 1 Oregon and No. 2 Georgia, the two highest-ranked conference champs were No. 9 Boise State and No. 12 Arizona State, so they were elevated to the Nos. 3 and 4 seeds, while Notre Dame was bumped down from No. 5 to No. 7.

Notre Dame scored a 27-17 home win over Indiana in the first round, and each of the other three higher-ranked teams also won their first-round home games.

While the first round was all chalk, the second round featured all four lower seeds winning, putting the Nos. 5 through 8 seeds into the semifinals.

That led to plenty of debate regarding whether having a first-round bye was actually a good thing since the teams who had a bye were off for nearly a month between their conference titles game and their CFP quarterfinal game.

Conversely, the teams that had to play in the first round were already back in a rhythm, and they used that to their advantage in the quarters.

Regardless, there figures to be a great deal of discussion moving forward on the subject of whether conference champions should get the top four CFP seeds or the top four teams in the CFP rankings should get them.

Per ESPN's Heather Dinich, future changes are possible, but CFP executive director Rich Clark suggested recently that none are likely to occur in time for the 2025 season.

Clark said there isn't enough time to make changes for 2025, but a new format could potentially be in place for 2026 if alterations are agreed upon by the end of 2025.

Seeding is undoubtedly one possible change that will be discussed, along with the idea of adding teams to make it a 14- or even 16-team field.

The national champion of the 2024 college football season will be determined Monday night when Notre Dame and Ohio State clash at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.