Why Notre Dame vs. Miami Is the Wrong College Football Playoff Debate

Just without winning many games in it, anymore

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman celebrates with his players after winning a NCAA football game 49-10 against Navy at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, in South Bend. | MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The College Football Postseason Invitational is drawing near as conference championship games will put the finishing touches on the 2025 regular season this weekend.

The new College Football Playoff rankings came out on Tuesday night, and good news was not to be found for Notre Dame.

Despite winning easily at Stanford, Notre Dame dropped in the rankings to No. 10.

That might not seem like a big deal as 12 teams make the field, but it's an incredibly big deal, because the Irish now have their backs to the wall to make the playoff. While we've all spent time discussing and arguing Notre Dame's case against Miami, it's clear we're looking at this whole thing wrong.

Updated College Football Playoff Rankings:

With the latest College Football Playoff rankings out, here is how the top 25 looks:

1. Ohio State
2. Indiana
3. Georgia
4. Texas Tech
5. Oregon
6. Ole Miss
7. Texas A&M
8. Oklahoma
9. Alabama
10. Notre Dame
11. BYU
12. Miami
13. Texas
14. Vanderbilt
15. Utah
16. USC
17. Virginia
18. Arizona
19. Michigan
20. Tulane
21. Houston
22. Georgia Tech
23. Iowa
24. North Texas
25. James Madison

Notre Dame Appears to be in Major Trouble

Notre Dame may appear to be safely in at No. 10 but don't let the rankings fool you.

Alabama moving past Notre Dame after sneaking by 5-7 Auburn this weekend may have just been the end for the Fighting Irish in terms of the College Football Playoff.

Assume Alabama plays a semi-close game against Georgia and there are nine of your playoff teams.

BYU winning the Big 12 championship game over Texas Tech would theoretically move the Cougars ahead of Notre Dame. Meanwhile, BYU losing the Big 12 championship game to Texas Tech would move Miami up to No. 11, one spot from Notre Dame.

That opens the door for Miami to pass Notre Dame thanks to that head-to-head loss from back on August 31.

Miami and Notre Dame has and will draw the attention since the College Football Playoff rankings debuted this year, but the fact of the matter is we're arguing about the wrong thing.

Notre Dame and Miami Should Both Be In

If you were judging the College Football Playoff on who should actually be in, then Notre Dame and Miami shouldn't be any part of the debate. It should be Alabama and Oklahoma that we're comparing right now and arguing about the importance of head-to-head about, not Notre Dame and Miami.

Miami's quality of loss (or lack thereof) against Louisville and SMU is what has kept Miami behind Notre Dame. Meanwhile, Alabama has what is easily the worst loss of any playoff contender, when it had its doors blown off by Florida State (5-7) back in Week 1.

That game is just forgotten about and not part of the equation, as the committee flat-out stated that it was Alabama's impressive performance to beat Auburn this past week that moved it ahead of Notre Dame.

Read that back again without laughing.

With all the Notre Dame vs Miami talk...

If tried to look at all the metrics being discussed and compare 10-2 Notre Dame vs 10-2 Miami vs 10-2 Oklahoma

(I left out 10-2 Alabama since they can play their way in on Saturday)

Why is Oklahoma the lock of the three? pic.twitter.com/JrFK2Tn2JF

— Tim Murray (@1TimMurray) December 1, 2025

The latest rankings essentially guarantee there will be five SEC teams in the College Football Playoff field.

We can argue about Notre Dame and Miami all we want, but that's the wrong argument to have.

Instead it should be about the Crimson Tide and Sooners, the value of Oklahoma's victory in Tuscaloosa this year, and which of the two should be sitting at home.

Instead, thanks to quality work from the SEC-ESPN merger, the SEC will field nearly half the field in this season's College Football Playoff, even though it had just one team win a playoff game last season.

Consider Notre Dame and Miami as the eye candy to keep you from realizing that the SEC now has those five guaranteed spots and a pair of teams that should be very much on the bubble instead of appearing safely in entering conference championship weekend.