One of the weirdest side effects of this year's College Football Playoffs hunt has been a rift forming between Notre Dame and the ACC. While the Fighting Irish are independent in football, they're aligned with the ACC in most of the other major sports.
That's made the conference openly campaigning on a near-daily basis for one member in Miami over another, quite strange. Downright unprofessional to be totally honest. According to several insiders, including FootballScoop's John Brice, the campaigning has led to a "Cold War-esque" atmosphere between the ACC and Notre Dame.
If things were chilly between Notre Dame and the ACC because of Miami before Monday, there has to be frost forming on the furniture after the ACC Network planned its broadcast schedule this week.
ACC Network’s replay blitz deepens rift with Notre Dame
The network aired a replay of the Week 1 faceoff between the Hurricanes and the Fighting Irish. That was a cheeky little elbow in the ribs of Marcus Freeman and his crew. But it's worse than that.
I respect the commitment. pic.twitter.com/Q1qYTuvgJW
— Pete Sampson (@PeteSampson_) December 2, 2025
It turns out that the ACC Network is planning to re-air the game repeatedly on Thursday and Friday. In fact, all told, the game, which Miami won by three points, will air eight times on Thursday and Friday.
The game will also be re-aired at different times of the day. Clearly, the channel wants to get as many eyes as possible on the game to remind people that the 'Canes won that game. It's an interesting bit of passive-aggressive gamesmanship that once again drives a wedge between the ACC and the Fighting Irish.
When it comes to the College Football Playoffs, the narrative that either Notre Dame or Miami should get in has been churned out on social media almost constantly. However, there are other teams that should be kept out before either ACC-aligned programs. The conference may eventually realize that and understand that the Irish getting in can be seen as a positive.