What Did Marcus Freeman Say to Notre Dame After CFP Bracket Snub? AD Reveals Message

Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman addressed his team shortly after the Fighting Irish were left out of the 2025 College Football Playoff bracket, athletic director Pete Bevacqua told Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger.

"Marcus said it perfectly: Usually there are reasons and answers and explanations, but we don't have one for you with this," Bevacqua told Dellenger. "This is shocking and upsetting.

"An utter disbelief and sadness from our student-athletes, who were led to believe since the CFP rankings started of what they needed to do and did everything they were asked to do."

According to Dellenger, Notre Dame players, staff and administrators gathered Sunday to watch the selection show "with the expectation that the Irish would be seeded No. 9 or No. 10."

Instead Notre Dame, which was listed two spots above Miami at No. 10 in Tuesday's penultimate CFP rankings, watched as the Hurricanes received the final at-large spot in the bracket.

Both Notre Dame and Miami finished the regular season with 10-2 records, and the Fighting Irish have been consistently listed above the Hurricanes since the first CFP ranking came out in Week 10.

College Football Playoff selection committee chair Hunter Yurachek said in a Sunday appearance on ESPN the decision to put Miami in the playoff came after BYU lost the Big 12 title game to Texas Tech.

BYU had been ranked No. 11, between No. 10 Notre Dame and No. 12 Miami, in Tuesday's list.

The selection committee hadn't wanted to focus on Miami and Notre Dame's head-to-head record when there was another program between them in the rankings, Yurachek said.

Once BYU slipped down the standings with the loss, the committee took into account Miami's season-opening win over Notre Dame, according to Yurachek.

Alabama meanwhile also grabbed an at-large spot despite losing its own conference title game to Georgia.

Freeman made his case for Notre Dame's playoff bid in a Saturday evening appearance on Fox College Football, when he urged the committee to weigh the Irish's 10-game win streak to end the campaign over the season-opening loss ot Miami.

"I just don't believe you can eliminate a team based on one data point," Freeman said.

It was ultimately that 27-24 loss against visiting Miami back on Aug. 31 that Yurachek cited when explaining the decision to keep Notre Dame out of the field.

CBS Sports' Brad Crawford previously reported Notre Dame is "likely" to play BYU in the Pop-Tarts Bowl if kept out of the playoff field. Bevacqua told ESPN's Jen Lada (h/t the South Bend Tribune's Mike Berardino) the Fighting Irish "haven't even thought about" bowl plans as of Sunday.