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Notre Dame Coach Marcus Freeman Had a Strategic Reason for Picking Miami to Beat Indiana

The Fighting Irish coach sought to avoid creating any bulletin board material.
Dan Lyons|
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman picked Miami, leaving Pat McAfee as the only ‘College GameDay’ analyst to select Indiana to win the 2025 national championship.
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman picked Miami, leaving Pat McAfee as the only ‘College GameDay’ analyst to select Indiana to win the 2025 national championship. | Screengrab of ESPN via College GameDay/X

Marcus Freeman joined College GameDay ahead of Monday night’s national championship game between Indiana and Miami—a big-time opportunity for the Notre Dame coach to promote his program ahead of the biggest game of the college football season. And he wasn’t about to give Miami any added motivation, even for a game that won’t take place for nearly 11 months.

As guest picker, Freeman was tasked with picking a winner between the Hoosiers and Hurricanes. After Miami resident Desmond Howard and former Dolphins coach Nick Saban each picked the Canes to upset IU, Freeman was up—and he had a bit of an ulterior motive for his selection.

“November 7th, 2026, we play Miami. And I know what I would do if somebody picked against us, ‘cause I’ve done it plenty of times with everybody on this set who’s picked against us. And I’m not going to give Miami any bulletin board material. So my heart says Indiana but I’m going to use my head and pick Miami.”

Nick Saban, the former national championship-winning coach at Alabama and LSU, joked with Freeman that he never picked the winner when he was in the same position. Now, two years into his analyst career and Saban is donning a Miami hat on national television, perhaps in a light tribute to Lee Corso, who retired after a final GameDay appearance in Week 1.

With Freeman’s pick, it was left to Indianapolis resident Pat McAfee to save the graphic and keep ESPN’s panel from predicting a clean sweep for the 8.5-point underdog Hurricanes. He obliged.

Freeman may coach in the same state as the Hoosiers, and his Fighting Irish may have eliminated Curt Cignetti’s team from last year’s College Football Playoff, but when it comes to his GameDay pick, he’s all about looking forward, and on Monday that means no extra slice of motivation for Mario Cristobal and his staff.

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Dan Lyons
DAN LYONS

Dan Lyons is a staff writer and editor on Sports Illustrated's Breaking and Trending News team. He joined SI for his second stint in November 2024 after a stint as a senior college football writer at Athlon Sports, and a previous run with SI spanning multiple years as a writer and editor. Outside of sports, you can find Dan at an indie concert venue or movie theater.

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