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Notre Dame Football; the Pop-Tarts Mascot
NEED TO KNOW
- Notre Dame is not interested in playing in the Pop-Tarts Bowl
- The team, who was snubbed in the College Football Playoff, declined to accept the invitation to the Dec. 27 bowl
- “We feel like the playoff was stolen from our student-athletes,” Notre Dame’s athletic director said
Does Notre Dame have a “crazy good” reason for opting out of the Pop-Tarts Bowl?
The team announced on Sunday, Dec. 7 that it was declining the invitation to the bowl game after being snubbed in the College Football Playoff.
“As a team, we’ve decided to withdraw our name for consideration for a bowl game following the 2025 season,” the school said in a statement. “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.”
The 10-2 team was left out of the playoff picture despite finishing the season with a 10-game winning streak. But the Fighting Irish had dropped its first two games to then-No. 10 Miami and No. 16 Texas A&M.
Julio Aguilar/Getty
The Pop-Tarts mascot is lowered into the toaster at the 2024 Pop-Tarts Bowl
And it was their first loss of the season to the Hurricanes that sealed the team’s fate, according to multiple reports. With Miami snagging the head-to-head win, the team got the final at-large bid in the CFP over Notre Dame.
Trinity Machan/Icon Sportswire via Getty
Notre Dame won its final 10 games of the season.
However, none of it makes sense to Notre Dame’s athletic director nor its coach Marcus Freeman, who led the team to the national championship game last year against Ohio State.
“There is no explanation that could possibly be given to explain the outcome,” Notre Dame AD Pete Bevacqua told Yahoo Sports. “As I said to Marcus [Freeman], one thing is for sure: Any rankings or show prior to this last one is an absolute joke and a waste of time. Why put these young student-athletes through these false emotions just to pull the rug out from underneath them having not played a game in two weeks and then a group of people in a room shatter their dreams without explanation?”
He added, “We feel like the playoff was stolen from our student-athletes.”
In Notre Dame’s absence, Georgia Tech has stepped in to play BYU in the Dec. 27 bowl game at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla.
“Next destination @PopTartsBowl,” the team wrote on X. “#StingEm”
Read the original article on People
