Big 12 Conference commissioner Brett Yormark said Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua was “completely out of line” with his comments about the Atlantic Coast Conference this week.
Notre Dame has a football scheduling alliance with the ACC and is a full member of the conference in other sports. Bevacqua said the ACC hurt Notre Dame's chances of making the College Football Playoff by instead campaigning for Miami's inclusion.
Miami won the CFP over the Fighting Irish, mainly because the Hurricanes won the head-to-head meeting of the teams. Bevacqua stated that the ACC has been running a targeted social media campaign for weeks demonstrating its preference for Miami's inclusion in the field over Notre Dame.
“The ACC does great things for Notre Dame, but we bring tremendous football value to the ACC and we don't understand why you would go out of your way to hurt us in this process,” Bevacqua said Tuesday.
Later Tuesday, Yormark appeared at the Sports Business Journal's Intercollegiate Athletics Forum and responded to Bevacqua's criticism.
“I believe his conduct was egregious,” Yormark said. “He goes completely overboard with his approach and if he was in the room I would tell him the same thing.”
The public reaction is remarkable given Bevacqua's unique status as Notre Dame's publicist. For example, Bevacqua sits on the College Football Playoff Management Committee along with the 10 FBS conference commissioners, representing the interests of independent Notre Dame football.
Rumors have also swirled about Notre Dame's next steps if they want to part ways with the ACC, including a partnership with the Big 12. That looks less likely after Yormark criticized Bevacqua on Tuesday. Yormark noted that the ACC provided Notre Dame with a lifeline in the Covid-impacted 2020 season, giving the Irish a full 10-game conference slate and a berth in the championship game against Clemson.
“His behavior was egregious,” Yormark said. “It was blatant to go after Jim Phillips when they saved Notre Dame during Covid… The Chairman said that as Notre Dame and Miami get closer, the matchup will be the deciding factor, okay?”
Notre Dame made it to the CFP final last season, but they say they will give up bowling after missing out this year.
