Why did Notre Dame decline Pop-Tarts Bowl invite? Explaining opt-out
- - Why did Notre Dame decline Pop-Tarts Bowl invite? Explaining opt-out
John Leuzzi, USA TODAY NETWORKDecember 27, 2025 at 4:01 AM
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Why did Notre Dame decline Pop-Tarts Bowl invite? Explaining opt-out
By the end of the night, there will be crumbs of life-sized, edible Pop-Tarts all over the field at Camping World Stadium in Orlando from the winning team of the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
It's an experience that Notre Dame football will miss out on come Saturday, Dec. 23, as the ninth-ranked Fighting Irish opted to decline an invite to one of the top bowl games on the postseason schedule.
Here's what to know about why the Fighting Irish opted out of the Pop-Tarts Bowl:
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Why did Notre Dame football opt out of Pop-Tarts Bowl?
Notre Dame's decision to decline a bowl game invitation begins with the CFP selection committee's decision to keep the Fighting Irish out of the 12-team College Football Playoff bracket.
The Fighting Irish were controversially left out of the bracket on Selection Sunday, as the committee opted to put Miami in the bracket at the No. 10 seed over Notre Dame. The CFP committee had ranked Notre Dame over Miami in all of its previous CFP top 25 ranking unveilings and had not used its head-to-head tiebreaker with both teams until Selection Sunday, despite the Hurricanes beating the Fighting Irish all the way back in Week 1.
"As a team, we've decided to withdraw our name from consideration for a bowl game following the 2025 season. We appreciate all the support from our families and fans, and we're hoping to bring the 12th national title to South Bend in 2026," Notre Dame wrote in a statement on Dec. 7.
pic.twitter.com/TyzavvzpC1
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) December 7, 2025
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The committee's omission of Notre Dame led to a multi-day media tour — including a news conference held in South Bend in front of reporters that was supposed to also cover other Fighting Irish programs — by Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua.
He repeatedly said the ACC's efforts to push for Miami to make the CFP over the Fighting Irish hurt the relationship between the conference and the university. Notre Dame competes as an independent in football but is a member of the ACC for many of its other Division I programs.
"I don't understand why you would go on a social media campaign to attack an important partner," Bevacqua said at his press conference on Dec. 9.
In that same news conference, Bevacqua called it the "right decision" by the Fighting Irish's leadership team and Marcus Freeman to not play in a bowl game.
"It was a decision that I applaud," Bevacqua said. "I think it was a hard decision. I think they knew it was going to be a hard decision. I think they knew it was going to be a decision that not everybody was going to love. But it was the right decision for this team at this moment. I'm positive of that."
He also pointed to players being able to rest during finals week and spend the holidays at home with their families as factors that also played in Notre Dame's decision.
He added: "The unanimous message that came back was we are such a close team, those guys in that locker room, that they want to make sure that the last team that took the field as part of the 2025 Notre Dame season was the same team that took the field when we got off the plane in Miami (in Week 1). They didn't feel it was right for this team to make the decision to go out there and not be that full team that has been so close together."
Who is competing in the Pop-Tarts Bowl 2025?
BYU and Georgia Tech will compete for the right to eat the edible Pop-Tarts mascot trophy in the 2025 Pop-Tarts Bowl on Dec. 27 in Orlando, Florida.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why did Notre Dame opt out of Pop-Tarts Bowl? CFP snub impacted decision
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