CFP Fallout: Big 12's Brett Yormark Rips Notre Dame's Pete Bevacqua For 'Egregious' Behavior With ACC

Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua doesn’t have many fans outside of South Bend regarding the way he has handled the fallout from the Fighting Irish being left out of the college football playoff. You can add Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark to that list. 

On Tuesday, Pete Bevacqua held a news conference where he continued his attack on the ACC, where he blamed the conference for what he perceived were social media propaganda to benefit Miami getting into the playoff over Notre Dame. 

"What we were really surprised by and disappointed was how the ACC conference really went on social media in my opinion attacking our football program," Bevacqua said Tuesday. 

Notre Dame Fallout: AD Pete Bevacqua Blames The ACC, But Laughably Uses 'Dominant Run' Argument For CFP

In the process of challenging the CFP's integrity, which is fair game, he maintained that Notre Dame's relationship with the ACC was strained following the events over the weekend, and even over the last two weeks. 

Yes, the ACC Network did show the Miami versus Notre Dame matchup from Aug. 31 on numerous occasions last week. Sure, it benefited the ACC that Miami got into the playoff over Notre Dame. 

But, making those types of accusations, while also at the same time knowing you have an agreement that will allow Notre Dame an automatic entry into the CFP if ranked in the Top-12 starting next season, is an interesting route to take during this era of college athletics. 

Brett Yormark Went Straight At Notre Dame's Pete Bevacqua

On Tuesday night, while speaking during an IAF event in Las Vegas, as part of a college athletics forum that is taking place, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark unloaded on the Notre Dame athletic director. 

"I'm a little outspoken about it, but I don't like how Notre Dame has reacted to it. I think Pete, his behavior to it has been egregious. It's been egregious going after Jim Phillips (ACC Commissioner) when they saved Notre Dame during Covid. We all knew, it was all transparent, Hunter (Yurachek) was very transparent about it. 

"As Notre Dame and Miami got closer together, head-to-head would be a factor. Ok, BYU lost, they became closer together and head-to-head made a difference in that decision. So, I think he's totally out of bounds in his approach and if he was in the room I'd tell him the same thing."

Whew, now that's what you call clapping back at a colleague. 

During his remarks earlier Tuesday, Pete Bevacqua told reporters that he had reached out to SEC commissioner Greg Sankey over the past 48 hours to discuss the framework of a potential 16-team CFP format. 

Right now, conference commissioners, along with Pete Bevacqua, are trying to decide if they can come to an agreement on what the future format looks like. If they cannot come to an agreement by January, we will have a 12-team playoff in 2026-2027, as all parties continue to negotiate with ESPN. 

But, as you can tell by the comments made by Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark, I don't imagine Notre Dame having many friends when they meet again over the next few weeks.