Notre Dame AD 'Flabbergasted' by ACC's CFP Campaigns for Miami, Expected Apology

Notre Dame missed out on the College Football Playoff after finishing the season 10-2, and the Fighting Irish didn't get any help from the ACC when it came to making their case to be included in the field.

After a social media campaign from the ACC to get Miami into the Playoff over Notre Dame, Fighting Irish athletic director Pete Bevacqua said he was "flabbergasted."

"Up until this moment, I think the relationship between Notre Dame and the ACC has been unbelievably healthy and mutually beneficial," Bevacqua said, per ESPN's Adam Rittenberg. "That's, I think, one of the reasons why we were so flabbergasted by this."

While Notre Dame is independent in football, 24 of its sports teams compete in the ACC. The Fighting Irish also played six ACC schools in football this year.

Despite Notre Dame's ties to the ACC, the conference's social media account made a post with a side-by-side comparison of Miami and the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame lost to the Canes in their season opener.

Bevacqua said Notre Dame was being "targeted" by the ACC.

"We were definitely being targeted," Bevacqua said. "And for better or for worse, we have a different relationship with the ACC than any other team in college football, other than the [football] teams that are in the ACC. Because we're in the ACC for 24 sports, we have a scheduling agreement with the ACC. The ACC does wonderful things for Notre Dame, but we bring tremendous football value to the ACC, and we didn't understand why you would go out of your way to try to damage us in this process."

Bevacqua expected an apology for that post, but never received one.

"Quite frankly, I was kind of expecting a phone call saying, 'Hey, sorry about that, it won't happen again,'" Bevacqua said. "But then it did happen again, and we started to communicate with the ACC, texts that I sent, emails that I sent, and it continued to happen."

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips issued a statement on Monday saying that the ACC never said Notre Dame was "not a worthy candidate" to make the CFP. He added that the Fighting Irish are "an incredibly valued member of the ACC."