Notre Dame Got One Clear Message From the College Football Playoff Committee

Across the past six weeks, college athletics powers have been trying to put the final touches on the College Football Playoff’s expansion to 24 teams beginning in 2027.

While this process is still ongoing, one of the figures heavily involved is Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua, who is essentially on par with conference commissioners in guiding the future of the tournament. The former television executive and Fighting Irish alum hasn’t been shy in voicing his support for doubling the field over the last few months and has been among those burning the midnight oil behind the scenes to get expansion over the line with the event’s media partner ESPN.

Why would Bevacqua be so eager to ensure the bracket goes to 24 by next season? Additional access for more teams and the potential for better games might be the first talking points, but Tuesday’s initial set of selection committee rankings provided a far more tangible one as it pertains to Notre Dame this year.

As the team prepares to play in one of the biggest games in South Bend in decades against No. 1 Miami, it will be a season-defining game for the Irish to either make the playoff or miss it for the second straight season.

“Notre Dame, an impressive 7–1 record, although their wins don’t stack up against other teams higher in the rankings,” committee chairman and Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek said. “They currently own one win against a team with a .500 or better record. Notre Dame has faced one opponent in the Top 25 so far and that was BYU on the road and they did not win that game.”

The Fighting Irish had one of the biggest reputational deltas when the polls were released Sunday (No. 4 in the AP, No. 6 in the coaches) and down at a lowly No. 11 by the selection committee on Tuesday. As part of the new rules around teams being selected to the CFP this year, that would presently guarantee the football independent a spot in the field since they would be in the top 12. Another loss could tank their season given the lack of opportunities for marquee wins.

The committee clearly values beating good teams and there are plenty of opportunities for those in the SEC, Big Ten and even Big 12 to do so. That is not the case for the team in the gold helmets with luck that seems to be escaping them instead of being a part of their lore.

A look at the first CFP bracket projection 👀

Thoughts?? pic.twitter.com/hssFacomgc
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) November 4, 2026

It certainly didn’t help that Saturday’s on-field results impacted the Irish’s schedule. Wisconsin, which Notre Dame defeated to open the season, was blown out by Iowa without scoring a point. North Carolina lost its second in a row; Notre Dame beat the Tar Heels by 11 in early October. Throw in SMU faltering at Syracuse and it’s entirely possible the only teams the committee will rank in their Top 25 on Selection Sunday will be the ones Notre Dame lost to.

For a program which began this season as a title pick, this situation is worse than last season when they were the first team left out of the bracket after losing their head-to-head matchups against fellow at-larges Miami and Texas A&M. At 10–2 this season, there will be little debate over Notre Dame’s inclusion being worthy and particularly by a committee that has shown it is not afraid to put teams with more blemishes above those with a smaller number in the loss column.

“When you look at Notre Dame’s schedule and the wins they have versus the teams that are ahead of them, they don’t have that signature win right now,” Yurachek said. “They lost in their only Top 25 matchup at BYU.”

Last year’s snub was taken hard in South Bend, with Bevacqua lashing out at the ACC and commissioner Jim Phillips and the program backing out of its bowl game. While those relationships have since been largely repaired and cooler heads have grown excited over the prospect of greater CFP leeway in future seasons, that doesn’t do much for the task at hand for Marcus Freeman, CJ Carr and the rest of the team.

As was made abundantly clear Tuesday night, Notre Dame has to be perfect the rest of the season. That includes not only beating the committee’s unanimous No. 1 team in Miami, but not tripping up against Boston College, SMU or Syracuse. A 10–2 Fighting Irish, simply, will be destined for the Pop-Tarts Bowl and not the first round of the playoff.

If there is any silver lining, it’s that the Irish are far from alone.

The committee’s rankings were also quite eye-opening for Ohio State, which dropped only a spot to No. 12 compared to its position in the AP poll. The Buckeyes were clearly on thin ice after losing to USC with backup quarterback Luke Fahey following Julian Sayin’s injury against Indiana.

“Ohio State is not being penalized for having a quarterback that’s out there, they’re being evaluated as a team with another quarterback in the lineup for them,” Yurachek said.

The Buckeyes would be out of the field if the CFP started now, and like the Fighting Irish seemingly have to play perfect to still be a legitimate at-large candidate in case tiebreakers keep them out of the Big Ten title game. They face No. 23 Oregon at the Horseshoe this week followed by three more tricky tests against Northwestern, Nebraska and Michigan.

In a normal year, a 9–3 Ohio State might have the talent to pass the eye test and the résumé to still be considered for an at-large berth. That won’t be true in 2026, however. The Buckeyes have to be examined without their Heisman finalist throwing passes than they were with Sayin in the lineup.

Further south, those in the SEC will likely take some umbrage with the committee’s rankings. No. 13 Tennessee was eight spots behind No. 5 Alabama, which the Vols beat, and No. 14 LSU is on the outside looking in despite having the roster spending for a team firmly in the field. Even undefeated UCLA can’t be too thrilled at being sandwiched behind two-loss Texas and just ahead of No. 9 BYU which seems to be that high based mostly on its marquee victory over Notre Dame.

The good news for that latter group is that each still has plenty of meaningful games and the allure of a potential trip to a conference title game. They all could lose between now and Selection Sunday, but remain in the bracket on strong résumés that include numerous big-time wins that will be fresh in the minds of the committee.

That will not be the case for the Fighting Irish, however, who will need to beat Miami even more than they would otherwise want to in the unique rivalry. As much as coaches may preach that they’re only focused on going 1–0 each week, that really is the message sent to Notre Dame on Tuesday.

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