Notre Dame, Iowa State and Kansas State qualified for bowl games but have turned down invitations to play.
Notre Dame was the biggest program to opt out of the postseason, historically seen as a reward for a good campaign before the sport adopted a playoff and grew it to 12 participants.
The Fighting Irish (10-2) were the first team out of the field revealed earlier Sunday, with Miami overtaking them in the rankings based on a head-to-head win from August. Notre Dame had been ranked ahead of Miami since the committee began its weekly ranking exercises.
“As a team, we’ve decided to withdraw our name from consideration for a bowl game following the 2025 season,” said a statement attributed to the 2025 Notre Dame football team and posted to social media. “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.”
Earlier in the day, the Big 12 Conference announced that Iowa State and Kansas State would be fined $500,000 apiece for skipping bowl season. The Cyclones went 8-4 and the Wildcats finished 6-6 this season.
The reason the Big 12 schools gave was the introduction of new head coaches. Iowa State hired Jimmy Rogers to replace Matt Campbell, who was hired by Penn State on Friday; Kansas State had Chris Klieman retire and named former quarterback Collin Klein his successor.
“While the Conference acknowledges the difficult timing around coaching changes, the Big 12 is responsible for fulfilling its contractual obligations to its bowl partners,” the conference said in a statement Sunday.
Bowl game assignments had not been finalized as of 4:50 p.m. ET, and the games usually reserved for teams .500 and above will have to open up to 5-7 squads out of necessity.
Teams with 5-7 records will be eligible in order of the highest Academic Progress Rate. Rice, Auburn and Florida State are among the possible replacement teams.
–Field Level Media
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