The Fighting Irish are officially going bowling...literally. The Notre Dame football program will be participating in a bowling event this upcoming season, and it feels like this is a bit of a troll job by the program after all the chaos as of late.
Notre Dame was not selected to be in the College Football Playoff, and then shortly after the snub, the team decided they would not participate in a bowl game and declined their invitation to the Pop-Tarts Bowl. Many are calling out Notre Dame for declining their invite after the CFP snub, while others are choosing to defend the decision.
Whether choosing to do this bowling event is a troll job or not, the Irish will be competing to raise money for South Bend charity organizations.
Taking our ball and going bowling ☘️
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) December 10, 2025
This holiday season we will compete in a bowling event to raise money for local South Bend organizations.
In the notes, you can designate a specific player to help that position group’s fundraising efforts.
DONATE: https://t.co/UzEMdkNUwj… pic.twitter.com/4OAsCHqG4C
Notre Dame's College Football Playoff snub could mean change for bowl games
Notre Dame was not the only team to decline a bowl invite this season. Kansas State and Iowa State also declined invitations due to coaching changes, but also because it was voted on by the team. Those schools are having to pay a fine to the Big 12 Conference for not participating in said bowl games.
The Irish chose to decline their invite because, after thinking they would be in the CFP and strung along by the selection committee for weeks, they didn't see the point in playing in a meaningless bowl game. This way, head coach Marcus Freeman can focus more on bringing guys in through the transfer portal and work on recruiting for future classes.
With all of the bowls being declined, this could be the start of the end for bowl games. Especially with talk of expanding to more teams in the College Football Playoff, it is just going to become CFP or bust for teams, and why take the time to play in a bowl game where a good portion of the team could opt out?