Notre Dame’s omission from the College Football Playoff even briefly led to the cancellation of a book event at the school’s bookstore.
According to Matt Fortuna, the Notre Dame bookstore canceled a Friday event with CFP committee member Ivan Maisel for his book about longtime Notre Dame coach Frank Leahy titled “American Coach.”
Not long after the news became public, fellow Notre Dame writer Pete Sampson reported that the bookstore had put the event back on the calendar.
You know by now that Notre Dame was moved out of the College Football Playoff’s final rankings on Sunday in favor of Miami. Neither the Fighting Irish nor the Hurricanes played on conference championship weekend, but CFP committee chair Hunter Yurachek said that BYU’s loss in the Big 12 title game put Notre Dame and Miami next to each other in the rankings. Once the two teams were placed together in the rankings, then the committee discussed Miami’s head-to-head win over Notre Dame in Week 1.
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Notre Dame had been ahead of Miami in each of the committee’s previous rankings and had been ranked in the top 10 until it was dropped to No. 11 on Sunday. Miami, meanwhile, worked its way up from No. 18 in the first rankings in that same span.
Maisel’s book came out in September and was well in the works before he was announced as a committee member this spring. A longtime college football writer, Maisel’s professional writing career spanned four decades and he’s worked for ESPN and On3 among other outlets.
In a statement posted to social media on Wednesday afternoon, Maisel said no one in the Notre Dame athletic department knew about the cancellation of the book signing until it happened.
“A few things about my on-again appearance at Notre Dame on Friday: The Hammes Bookstore acted in good faith and out of an abundance — OK, overabundance — of caution. No one in ND administration or the athletic department knew of the postponement until afterward.
“I have spoken with AD Pete Bevacqua and with Dave Werda, the university executive director in charge of the bookstore, both of whom gave apologies that were neither requested nor necessary.
“I stand by the committee and the work we did. I stood by as the committee decided on Notre Dame. Because HC Marcus Freeman wrote a blurb for my book American Coach, I was recused from discussing/voting on the Irish. I offered the recusal in August and the CFP accepted it.”
The committee has a lengthy list of recusals since many of its members are or were employed by schools that could be up for discussion. Committee members currently or formerly employed at a school had a full recusal; Yurachek was recused from any potential discussions surrounding Appalachian State and his current employer, Arkansas.
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Maisel’s partial recusal allowed him to “remain present and participate in discussions related to” Notre Dame but he was not allowed “to participate in votes involving the team in question.”
The Irish have declined to participate in a bowl game after they were dropped out of the playoff field in favor of the Hurricanes. Notre Dame AD Pete Bevacqua has said that the school’s relationship with the ACC has been damaged, while Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said Tuesday that Bevacqua’s behavior has been “egregious.”
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