As well all know by now, Notre Dame football’s season is officially over, after missing out on the College Football Playoff and then opting out of a bowl game.
it wasn’t a choice that the Irish took lightly, and on Tuesday afternoon, athletic director Pete Bevacqua addressed what could happen going forward. Before he did spoke on this year’s team opting out saying it “was a decision that I applaud. I think it was a hard decision… but it was the right decision for this team at this moment.”
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Bevacqua went on to say that the captains had a big part in this decision making process with head coach Marcus Freeman, on that they all tried to take emotions out of, even with a short amount of time to choose what to do. They weren’t the only team to opt out, but as always, Notre Dame was at the top of the headlines after it did.
With the choice to opt out, many wondered what the Irish would do in the future, and we can all rest easy, as it very much looks like this was a one-off. Bevacqua said “the team making the decision not to play in this year’s bowl game, was a decision solely isolated to this year. We can’t speak for future years.”
Not to say the Bevacqua didn’t shut the door on the Irish doing this again, as he said “does that mean that if we’re in this situation again in the future that the same decision would be made? No, it’s year-by-year, case-by-case, it was the right decision for this team, at this moment.” It makes plenty of sense after getting dragged along by the CFP committee, placing them above Miami until the final rankings, and with SEC teams in Oklahoma and Alabama jumping the Irish late.
It will be very interesting to see how Notre Dame handles these types of situations in the future, but what we do now know, is that they aren’t going to back down and will make the tough choice if needed.
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This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: CFP or bust? Pete Bevacqua explains Notre Dame’s future bowl plans
