Here is McMurphy's full article

by Domer99, John Wesley Powell's Expedition Island, Wednesday, May 13, 2026, 07:01 (12 days ago) @ Jay

It's absolutely bananas. The moment ND pulls out of the ACC arrangement is the moment it falls apart. Maybe these a$$holes forgot the time when Notre Dame stood up to Clemson and Florida St. during the settlement for the buyout fees as a penalty for leaving the conference.

The logic these guys are using is truly baffling. They are crying because ND skipped the game in a situation where they actively campaigned for ND's exclusion in the CFP?!?!? Instead they got Georgia Tech into the game, and was able to share in the school's part of the $6+ MM payout. ND didn't get those proceeds that we wouldn't have had to share. These guys are just so dumb.

https://www.on3.com/news/acc-athletic-directors-call-out-notre-dames-special-treatment-...

ACC athletic directors call out Notre Dame's special treatment: 'We're all getting used'

Brett McMurphy

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. – Notre Dame and the ACC always have been strange bedfellows. The Irish have never been fully committed to the ACC; more like friends with benefits.

“Notre Dame,” an industry source told On3, “is the guy that walks in the house, opens the fridge, eats all the food, then (screws) the wife, kicks the dog, doesn’t pay the mortgage and walks out without any skin in the game.”

Notre Dame’s not-all-in relationship with the ACC has mostly worked out, although privately, there is a large contingent at ACC schools that resent the Golden Domers. In December, that was magnified when the Irish became the first 10-win team to opt out of a bowl game after Notre Dame didn’t receive a playoff bid.

At this week’s ACC spring meetings at the Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island, “pathetic,” “100 percent arrogance” and “crybabies” were just a few of the responses from the league’s athletic directors and coaches that spoke with On3 about Notre Dame.

While the bowl snub impacted the ACC’s bowl lineup more than the schools directly, it continued an ACC/Notre Dame narrative that, quite frankly, a lot of folks at ACC schools are sick and tired of.

“There’s a very widespread perception that we’re all getting used,” an ACC athletic director told On3. “And we’re sick of it. If an ACC team did that, it would have been fined. It’s a bad situation creating bad outcomes for organizations that need each other.”

Added another ACC AD: “It seems reasonable to have a consequence if the conference membership agreed to something then an individual institution made a decision counter to that decision.”
“I’m still waiting,” said an ACC coach, glancing down at his watch, “to see how much their fine is going to be.”

Notre Dame was not fined. Technically, there isn’t a specific ACC by-law that addresses bowl opt outs. However, there wasn’t a by-law in the Big 12 either. And that didn’t stop the Big 12 from fining Iowa State and Kansas State $500,000 each for opting out of bowl games last year.

Two years ago, the Sun Belt fined Marshall $100,000 for opting out of its bowl game. All three teams had coaching changes that impacted their rosters. Every program that has opted out of a bowl game, except for COVID issues, has been fined – except Notre Dame.
Miami coach Mario Cristobal, whose Hurricanes received the final at-large spot over Notre Dame, said UM would never opt out of a bowl.

“I want to speak independently of any other school,” Cristobal said. “As far as Miami, Miami has to play in any game its afforded to play. That’s just our belief. This day and age, sometimes certain players play and other players don’t play, but it is my obligation to finish the season. I do not judge anyone or any team for their choices.”

The ACC chose to allow Notre Dame this sweetheart deal in 2012: be an ACC member in all non-football sports and a part of the ACC’s bowl lineup while remaining an independent in football. The Irish, in turn, agreed to play five ACC football opponents annually until 2037.
Notre Dame gets the best of both worlds: maintaining football independence and having a safety net in the bowl system, which guarantees Notre Dame an ACC bowl destination.
“I don’t think there’s a better situation than the situation we have,” said former Notre Dame president John Jenkins. “The ACC has allowed us to retain a tradition (of football independence) that’s so central to our identity in football while we’re joining a conference that athletically as well as academically fits Notre Dame perfectly.”

That quote from Jenkins was back on Sept. 12, 2012, when the partnership was officially announced. Perfect would certainly not describe the current status between Notre Dame and the ACC.

When Notre Dame didn’t make the playoff, the Irish took exception to the ACC’s social media accounts “attacking” Notre Dame to promote Miami’s College Football Playoff chances.
“I was disappointed how the ACC really went on a social media campaign, in my opinion, attacking our football program … and taking shots at us,” Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua said in December.

Wait, Notre Dame got upset over some social media posts? Really? Getting negative responses on social media happens to every person on every day ending in ‘y.’

The question is, how will this impact the relationship between Notre Dame and the ACC moving forward?

In December, Bevacqua said, “the next step in assessing that relationship and where do you go from here. (The ACC has) certainly done permanent damage to the relationship between the conference and Notre Dame.”

Permanent damage is Monty Python’s Black Knight getting his arms and legs chopped off. Some social media trolling is “tis but a scratch” or maybe a flesh wound.
On Monday evening from Amelia Island, Bevacqua told On3 the Irish’s relationship with the ACC is “incredibly strong.”

“I mean, (ACC commissioner) Jimmy (Phillips) and I have such a wonderful relationship,” Bevecqua said. “We cleared the air back in December and I think it’s as strong or stronger than it’s ever been. I really do.

“We felt great. Jimmy and I had a great conversation right before Christmas. Talked through a lot and Jimmy and I talk very consistently.”

Bevecqua didn’t back down from his “permanent damage” response from December.
“No, it wasn’t (said) in the heat at the moment,” he said Monday. “But all I would say is we’re in good position.”

Part of Notre Dame’s decision to opt out, Bevacqua said, was because the selection committee ended the Irish’s national title hopes.

“It was the ultimate gut punch,” he said. “That this team doesn’t get to play for a national championship.”

The Irish weren’t the first team whose national title chances were crushed. Preseason No. 2-ranked Penn State and No. 4 Clemson both ranked ahead of Notre Dame to start last season and didn’t make the playoff. Yet, the Nittany Lions and Tigers still both decided to play in a bowl last season. Alabama, which was the first team left out of the playoffs in two of the past four years, didn’t opt out of playing either season.

Neither did BYU last year when the Cougars finished one spot behind Notre Dame. Other teams have had major disappointments, but didn’t pull the plug on the season.

“What’s the narrative if an ACC team decided not to play in a bowl because they missed the playoff?” an ACC coach said. “It would have been totally different.”

Notre Dame has always been treated differently. The Irish are the only school to get a seat at the conference commissioners’ table. This year, they receive an automatic playoff berth if they rank in the Top 12. They also have their own TV deal. But is it possible the golden helmets are losing some luster?

Bevacqua said ACC football stadiums, on average, sell out 23 percent of the time, compared to 90 percent when Notre Dame is the visiting team. Last year’s Nielsen television ratings tell a different story.

Just one season after its run to the 2024 national title game, Notre Dame only had four of the top 100 most-viewed games in 2025. The same amount as Iowa. There were 14 teams with more top-100-viewed games, including Vanderbilt.

Notre Dame’s two highest rated games were against Miami (17th, 10.8 million viewers) and Texas A&M (48th, 6.12 million viewers). Only two of the Top 50 most viewed games? Oh, for the days of Lindsey Nelson.

Has the ACC/Notre Dame partnership run its course? The ACC saved the Irish’s season in 2020, allowing Notre Dame to compete as an ACC member when COVID-19 wreaked havoc with the college football season. Whether they will admit it or not, the ACC needs Notre Dame more than the Irish need the ACC. However, if the Irish ever decide to join a football conference, they are contractually obligated to join the ACC.

Of course, Texas and Oklahoma and the approximate two hundred other schools that have changed conferences recently had “contracts” prohibiting them from leaving. And they all left.
With so many uncertainties surrounding college athletics, the only certainty is the ACC schools will always resent Notre Dame and the ACC/Notre Dame partnership won’t last forever. And when it ends – and it will – it’s going to end badly.