
College football is starting to feel a bit like the WWE, where one rival wrestler calls out another before the big match. In this instance, the big match is the College Football Playoff, and Notre Dame Fighting Irish athletic director Pete Bevacqua is playing the heel.
He's been complaining about Notre Dame missing the CFP to anybody who would listen. He's spoken about the Fighting Irish ultimately losing out to the Miami Hurricanes in the field of 12, using words like "shocked" and phrases like "sense of sadness." He said that the ACC supposedly pushing for Miami to make the playoff caused "permanent damage" to the relationship between Notre Dame and the conference.
Bevacqua has drawn plenty of criticism from college football talking heads, but now someone in his social circle is calling him out as well.
That would be Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark.
“I think his behavior has been egregious,” Yormark said at the Intercollegiate Athletics Forum. “He is totally out of bounds in his approach and if he was in the room, I’d tell him the same thing. You have to accept it. We all sign up for it.”
Brett Yormark said on stage at IAF that he thinks the CFP got it right.
— Sports Business Journal (@SBJ) December 9, 2025
"Was I happy about BYU, no...but I think overall they did the right job. Listen, it's progress over perfection."
He also called out Notre Dame AD Pete Bevacqua: "I think his behavior has been egregious."
Keep in mind, Yormark's weekend ended with a bit of disappointment as well. Only one Big 12 school, Texas Tech, made the CFP. BYU was on the bubble, but because the Cougars lost to the Red Raiders in the Big 12 Championship Game, 34-7, their CFP bubble was burst.
You don't hear BYU athletic director Brian Santiago complaining, though. Notre Dame didn't even play in a conference championship game. At least the Cougars had a chance to hoist a trophy last weekend.
In any playoff situation where seeding is up in the air, someone is going to be left out. Yormark's point seems to be that Notre Dame needs to suck it up and figure it out. That's life in the CFP era.
Don't lose to Miami to start the season, and this all feels different, doesn't it?
“Was I happy about BYU, no,” Yormark said. “… But I think overall they did the right job. Listen, it’s progress over perfection.”
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