The Funniest, Fiercest, and Most Fired-Up Social Media Reactions to Notre Dame Finally Earning a First-Round CFP Bye

When the College Football Playoff committee announced that Notre Dame had secured a coveted first-round bye in the expanded CFP format, social media erupted into a digital maelstrom of shock, celebration, skepticism, and sheer chaos. For years, Fighting Irish fans have argued that their team belonged among the elite, despite Notre Dame’s independent status raising constant questions about their strength of schedule and postseason qualifications. But now, with a bye week secured in the new 12-team playoff model, fans and critics alike took to X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, and Reddit to voice their unfiltered takes. And the results? Unforgettable.

The reactions ranged from jubilant jubilation in South Bend to petty potshots from longtime rivals. Memes flew. Jokes soared. Think pieces were published in real time. Below, we’ve rounded up the best, boldest, and most hilarious responses to Notre Dame’s historic bye-clinching moment—and let’s just say, no one held back.

First, the celebration in Notre Dame’s digital fanbase was nothing short of a virtual pep rally. Within minutes of the announcement, “#ByeByeHaters” was trending nationally, spearheaded by Irish fans tired of hearing that their independence was a liability. One user posted a GIF of Rudy being carried off the field with the caption: “When you finally get the bye that 30 years of NBC contracts and Touchdown Jesus promised you.” Another X user simply wrote, “Catholics, bye week, and chaos. Let’s ride.”

Notre Dame’s official football account kept it classy but couldn’t resist a little flex. They tweeted a simple image: the Golden Dome, under the words, “We Rest.” It was liked over 80,000 times and quote-tweeted with everything from celebratory clovers to the inevitable haters pointing out the team’s 2020 CFP loss to Alabama. One TikTok went viral showing a fan dressed as the Pope waving a golden helmet and marching through campus with a sign that read, “The Lord said rest on the seventh day. We just earned it.”

But for every joyous Irish fan, there were ten rival fans rolling their eyes and firing off takes like it was rivalry week. Michigan fans, still basking in the glow of recent Big Ten dominance, were quick to pile on. One viral post read: “Notre Dame getting a bye is like a substitute teacher winning Teacher of the Year.” Others noted the irony of a team that “refuses to join a conference getting conference-level perks,” sparking an age-old debate about whether independence should still be rewarded in modern college football.

SEC Twitter, never known for subtlety, delivered some of the most cutting commentary. An LSU fan posted a split-screen meme: one side showed the Tigers playing a brutal SEC schedule, the other showed Notre Dame “resting” after beating Navy, Purdue, and Stanford. “Notre Dame’s path to a bye is paved in cupcakes,” the caption read, and the post racked up tens of thousands of likes. Alabama fans, meanwhile, pointed out that Nick Saban never needed a bye to win it all and suggested Notre Dame might just be buying time to avoid another early playoff blowout.

Even coaches weighed in—albeit indirectly. An anonymous assistant from a Power Five program posted on a burner account: “Respect to ND, but if this is what we’re rewarding now, why even have a conference?” That post sparked a thread of nearly 400 replies, some defending the Irish’s strength of schedule, others calling for a complete CFP overhaul. The idea that independence had somehow become an advantage rather than a hurdle left many scratching their heads—and typing furiously.

But it wasn’t all negativity. Several analysts and media figures came to Notre Dame’s defense, noting their tough non-conference scheduling and consistent top-10 finishes in recent years. ESPN’s Rece Davis tweeted, “Say what you will, but Notre Dame’s earned this. The playoff needed to expand, and so did our thinking.” That more diplomatic take was met with a flood of mixed reactions. Some applauded the perspective, others accused ESPN of protecting its golden goose, given its broadcast ties to the Irish.

Notre Dame alums had their own moment of pride. Famous graduates from the NFL to Hollywood chimed in. Former quarterback Brady Quinn posted a selfie in a Notre Dame hoodie, captioned “Bye Week Vibes.” Actress and ND alumna Regina Hall posted a celebratory video on Instagram, popping a bottle of champagne with the song “Shipping Up to Boston” blaring in the background. Even former basketball star Skylar Diggins-Smith tweeted a simple clover emoji, which went viral purely because of the context.

Yet for many, the best reactions came from the meme lords and internet comedians who transformed Notre Dame’s bye week into the biggest joke of the offseason. One of the top posts featured a medieval knight (Notre Dame mascot, of course) taking a nap on a battlefield while SEC and Big Ten teams clashed behind him. The caption: “Notre Dame on bye week watching Georgia and Michigan kill each other for fun.”

Another user posted a video of a Notre Dame fan relaxing on a couch with all the lights off, sipping wine, and watching old Lou Holtz highlights. The voiceover: “When you’ve got no first-round opponent and all the time in the world to remember the glory days.” It quickly became a viral TikTok sound, with dozens of variations cropping up overnight.

Perhaps the funniest moment came when someone created a fake Netflix documentary trailer titled “Bye Week: The Irish Rest”. Complete with dramatic music and slow-motion footage of players walking into the tunnel, it claimed to document “the first time a college football team was allowed to rest while America screamed.” The trailer ended with a shot of Touchdown Jesus shrugging. The parody was so well done that some fans thought it was real—and started demanding Netflix actually make it.

Meanwhile, in South Bend, local businesses got in on the fun. One pizza place tweeted, “Free garlic knots every day until kickoff for every Notre Dame bye-week believer,” and posted a picture of a pizza shaped like a four-leaf clover. Campus bookstores were selling shirts within hours that read: “Bye Week Champs – Rested and Blessed.” Demand was so high the online store crashed.

Notre Dame students took the celebration offline, too. A group of undergrads staged an impromptu “Bye Week Parade” on campus, marching from the library to the stadium while blasting the fight song and tossing out foam footballs. Someone brought a real-life donkey with a sign that read, “This is the only thing we’re kicking during the first round.”

And yet, with all the noise, Notre Dame’s players remained mostly silent—posting only a few cryptic emojis and “job’s not finished” quotes from Kobe Bryant. Head coach Marcus Freeman addressed the reaction during a post-announcement media session, saying, “We’re honored. We know it’s a privilege. And we’re going to make it count.” That soundbite was clipped and memed within minutes, often accompanied by images of Notre Dame fans popping popcorn and waiting to see who they’d face next.

All jokes aside, the reaction to Notre Dame’s bye week underscores the passion, pettiness, and parody that make college football so uniquely entertaining. Whether fans believe the Irish deserved it or not, one thing is clear: Notre Dame getting a first-round bye wasn’t just a playoff development—it was a content bonanza. The internet will surely move on soon, but for now, the Irish rest easy. And they’ve never been louder about it.

Because in the world of college football, nothing says “We made it” quite like trolling your rivals while doing absolutely nothing at all.