Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua defended the Fighting Irish’s status as an independent on Friday.
“No secret, the expansion of the CFP from four to 12 teams has helped enormously, because as an independent, as with other schools, we get better opportunities, better percentages of getting in the playoffs, and the more you knock on that national championship door, the better,” Bevacqua said, per ESPN’s Heather Dinich. “And we like the freedom, quite frankly, it gives us.”
“The fact we were able to play Navy at MetLife and had the Shamrock Series against Army at Yankee Stadium, that we can continue that great rivalry with USC — we really get to move around the map and keep that very national presence,” he added.
The Irish punched their ticket to the national championship game with a 27-24 win over Penn State on Thursday in a College Football Playoff semifinal clash. By advancing to the national title contest, Notre Dame will earn an aggregate of $20 million (h/t Dinich).
Other teams must split their CFP payouts with the rest of their respective conferences, but the Irish have no requirement to do so considering they aren’t part of any conference.
“Part of Notre Dame’s heritage and history is being independent in football,” Bevacqua said on Friday. “It’s worked for Notre Dame. I think back to how Notre Dame became such a national school in the early 20th century, and football had a large part to do with that.”
Notre Dame also didn’t have an opportunity to compete for one of the top four seeds in the CFP, as the spots were given to the highest-ranked conference champions. Head coach Marcus Freeman’s team still won three playoff games to advance to the national championship contest.
The Irish staying independent hasn’t received unanimous approval, as Penn State head coach James Franklin explained that “everybody should be in a conference” when speaking to reporters prior to the CFP semifinal.
FOX College Football @CFBONFOX
“This is no knock at coach or Notre Dame, but I think everybody should be in a conference.” 👀<br><br>James Franklin shares his thoughts about the consistency across the college football landscape during a presser with Marcus Freeman ⬇️ <a href=”https://t.co/apfFqZfNzx”>pic.twitter.com/apfFqZfNzx</a>
Bevacqua confirmed that Notre Dame plans on staying independent, though.