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dave wilson
Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark on Tuesday took issue with the ACC’s criticism of Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua this week, calling his behavior “atrocious.”
after Notre Dame Was excluded from the College Football Playoff grounds in favor of miamiBevacqua, who had a head-to-head win over the Fighting Irish, accused the ACC of favoring the Hurricanes over his school in social media and league programming.
Yourmark, speaking in Sports Business Journal’s Intercollegiate Athletics Forum On Tuesday, Bevacqua took aim at Bevacqua, saying that Bevacqua was “completely out of line in his approach, and if he were in the room, I would tell him the same thing.”
All of Notre Dame’s varsity sports except football (which is an independent) and men’s hockey are members of the ACC. Since 2014, there has been a scheduling partnership between Notre Dame football and the ACC in which the Irish play at least five ACC opponents per season.
Bevacqua has criticized the ACC in several media appearances since Notre Dame’s CFP omission, This includes the Tuesday beforeWhen during a press conference he alleged that the conference conducted a sustained, targeted social media campaign against the Irish event.
ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips said in a statement Monday that the conference “stands behind the support and advocacy efforts of all 17 of our football-playing member institutions.”
Yormark said Tuesday he didn’t like how Notre Dame responded and said the ACC “saved” it in 2020 when the Irish played a 10-game ACC schedule during COVID. They went 9–0 in league play that year, then lost in the league championship game in a rematch. CLEMSONBut they were still selected as the No. 4 seed in the four-team College Football Playoff, where they lost in the semifinals. alabama,
Yormark said CFP Chairman Hunter Yurachek was transparent about the committee’s reasoning.
“I think Pete’s behavior has been extremely poor,” Yormark said. “It was terrible going after Jim Phillips when he saved Notre Dame during COVID. … The president said as Notre Dame and Miami get closer to each other, head-to-head battles will be a factor, right?”
Yormark noted that one of his own Big 12 teams, BYUwas excluded from the CFP based on the committee’s criteria despite going 11–2, its only loss coming at No. 4 texas tech, once in november and then saturday In the Big 12 Championship Game,
“BYU lost,” Yormark said. “They came closer to each other, [and] That face-to-face conversation made a difference in that decision.”
