Between Notre Dame, Miami and Alabama, one brand-name program was going to miss the 2025 College Football Playoff.
And it turns out there’s no luck of the Irish.
Despite consistently appearing above Miami in the CFP rankings since Week 11, the Hurricanes’ head-to-head win over Notre Dame in Week 1 finally was enough to catapult Miami over the Irish.
Both teams finished 10-2, and while the CFP committee kept telling us they weren’t comparing Notre Dame to Miami, things changed in the bracket reveal Sunday, Dec. 7.
Miami got the No. 10 seed, Alabama got the No. 9 seed and the Irish were the first team out.
CFP committee chairman Hunter Yurachek said BYU’s loss to Texas Tech in the Big 12 Championship game played a key role in Miami leapfrogging Notre Dame.
‘Once we moved Miami ahead of BYU, then we had that side-by-side comparison that everybody had been hungrying for, Notre Dame and Miami,’ Yurachek said Sunday after the bracket release. ‘And when you look at those two teams on paper, and they are almost equal, on their schedule strength, common opponents, results against common opponents, but the one metric we had to fall back on was the head-to-head.
‘We charged the committee members to go back and watch the game, the Notre Dame-Miami game because it was so far back and we got some interesting debate from our coaches on what that game looked like as we watched it. With that in mind we gave Miami the nod over Notre Dame in to that 10-spot.’
Why did Notre Dame miss College Football Playoff?
Perhaps the writing was on the wall after last week’s CFP rankings. Despite lopsided wins the past two weeks, Notre Dame dropped to No. 10 in last week’s rankings.
The Irish opened the season 0-2, losing by a combined four points to Miami and Texas A&M. Notre Dame then won 10 games in a row, including wins over Mountain West champion Boise State, USC and Pitt.
But Notre Dame owns no wins against top-15 opponents. It feasted on a schedule that included last-place teams from three of the Power Four conferences.
‘I think the ultimate question is: ‘Who’s the best team now?” Irish caoch Marcus Freeman said Dec. 6. ‘And that’s what the playoff committee wants and I’m sure that’s what college football fans want. I think anytime you look at one single data point, it’s going to sway you one way or another.
‘But the committee made it clear on Tuesday that the debate and focus has been on Notre Dame and Alabama. I might not agree with their decision to flip us, but it shows the debate isn’t Notre Dame (and) BYU (or) Miami, it’s Notre Dame and Alabama.’
Notre Dame football 2025 schedule, results
Aug. 31: at Miami, 27-24 loss
Sept. 13: vs. Texas A&M, 41-40 loss
Sept. 20: vs. Purdue, 56-30 win
Sept. 27: at Arkansas, 56-13 win
Oct. 4: vs. Boise State, 28-7 win
Oct. 11: vs. NC State, 36-7 win
Oct. 18: vs. USC, 34-24 win
Nov. 1: at Boston College, 25-10 win
Nov. 8: vs. Navy, 49-10 win
Nov. 15: at Pitt, 37-15 win
Nov. 22: vs. Syracuse, 70-7 win
Nov. 29: at Stanford, 49-20 win