The Notre Dame Fighting Irish made headlines when they took their ball and went home after not making it into the College Football Playoff, turning down an invite to the most prestigious bowl game outside of the CFP, the Pop Tarts Bowl.

Notre Dame was jumped by Miami in the final regular season rankings after being ahead of them throughout the entire cycle. While that logic made absolutely no sense, it was probably the right decision in the end given the head-to-head victory by the Hurricanes over the Fighting Irish. After the snub, Notre Dame threw a temper tantrum that would make a sleep deprived toddler embarrassed.

As it turns out, the Pop Tarts Bowl didn’t need Notre Dame at all.

The game between BYU and Georgia Tech turned out to be one of the best of bowl season. In a thrilling contest that went down to the final seconds, BYU held on for a 25-21 victory. Combine that with the incredible pageantry of the Pop Tarts Bowl, including the eating of a live toasted mascot, and you’ve got a recipe for how bowl season can work in playoff times.

But while Notre Dame and their fans may have thought that nobody would be interested without their presence, that was not the case. The Pop Tarts Bowl drew a hugely impressive 8.7 million viewers, leading the way for bowl games so far this season.

And in what may be irony as delicious as that giant cookies and cream mascot, the Pop Tarts Bowl outrated every single Notre Dame game but one this season – their opening loss to Miami.

Notre Dame fans told us they were going to cost ESPN $50 million by not playing in the bowl game

In the end, the Pop-Tarts Bowl drew more viewers than all but one Notre Dame game this season (ND-Miami, 10.8 mil on Labor Day night) https://t.co/6U91QpuuQr

— Graham Coffey (@GrahamCoffeyDC) January 2, 2026

For all the bluster and special treatment that Notre Dame receives, especially with their special CFP exemption that kicks in next year, people around the sport are now starting to question whether it’s actually deserved. Yes, the Fighting Irish has a tradition that is one of the best in the history of college football. But we’re now living in a time where Indiana has built a national title favorite in two years. The era of NIL and the CFP has made college football almost a whole new sport.

While the networks have traditionally fallen all over themselves to get Notre Dame games and the school has their package with NBC, do they even have the same drawing power they once did? Even their marquee rivalry against USC has failed to impress in the ratings in recent years. Their national championship game appearance against Ohio State last year also produced disappointing numbers.

If you combine that reality with an increasing push to ostracize the Fighting Irish from Power Four schedules and their frayed relationship with the ACC, it looks like Notre Dame’s historic perch is more shaky than ever. The ghost of Knute Rockne is out. Edible Pop Tarts Bowl mascots are in.