Notre Dame’s Rooting Guide for the College Football Playoff Semi-Finals

Who should Notre Dame fans be rooting for in the College Football Playoff semifinals?

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman looks on in the second half of a NCAA football game against NC State at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in South Bend. | MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

As the Notre Dame football program sits in South Bend, watching the transfer portal door open and close without anyone yet joining forces with the Fighting Irish, the College Football Playoff gets set to resume Thursday night with the first of two national semi-final contests.

Thursday night offers No. 6 Ole Miss and No. 10 Miami in the Fiesta Bowl while Friday night has No. 1 Indiana taking on No. 5 Oregon in the Peach Bowl.

The winners will meet in the College Football Playoff National Championship game while the losers head home.

So who should Notre Dame football fans be rooting for the next two nights?

Here's the answer to that question and why for both games.

Thursday: No. 6 Ole Miss vs. No. 10 Miami - Fiesta Bowl

Head coach Pete Golding of Mississippi and head coach Mario Cristobal of Miami (right) pose with the trophy before their matchup at the Fiesta Bowl during a news conference at the JW Marriott Scottsdale Camelback Inn Resort on Jan. 7, 2026. | Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Miami is a decades-long rival of Notre Dame and played a part in keeping the Fighting Irish out of the College Football Playoff so it has to be Ole Miss here, right?

Yeah, not so fast. Although an Ole Miss win would only continue to dampen the importance of Lane Kiffin to the Rebels overall success, that's not what is best here for Notre Dame.

No matter how many rounds of golf Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua plays with SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, the SEC isn't a friend of Notre Dame.

The best thing for Notre Dame going forward is there to never be another year the SEC can claim that five teams should be in a 12-team playoff field. Ole Miss being eliminated would mean that the only SEC wins in this playoff came against other SEC teams.

Remember, outside of historical purposes dating back to the 1980s, Miami wasn't the villian to Notre Dame in 2025 - the SEC was. Miami deserved a playoff bid over the Irish because it beat Notre Dame head-to-head. Alabama did not.

Notre Dame fans do it often, but rooting for the Hurricanes is the move here.

Friday: No. 1 Indiana vs. No. 5 Oregon - Peach Bowl

Oct 11, 2025; Eugene, Oregon, USA; Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning shakes hands with Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti after Indiana defeated Oregon by the score of 30-20 at Autzen Stadium. | Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

One of the things I can't stand about college football fans is the gatekeeping that goes on from fans of programs that have won a national title somewhat recently and ones that haven't.

Yes, I'm looking at some of you, Notre Dame fans. Notre Dame last won a title in 1988 and there are some that don't want Indiana or Oregon (or Ole Miss for that matter) to win it all because they don't want someone new joining the club that the Irish haven't been a part of for 37 seasons now.

This one is fairly neck-and-neck because neither is truly a rival but I do feel Indiana being a college football force puts more pressure on Notre Dame.

"If Indiana can do it, why the heck can't Notre Dame?"

Those are questions that can and should be asked regardless of if the Hoosiers end up hoisting the big gold trophy in Miami or not.

Whoever wins will enter the title game as the favorite to finish the job but because of the proximity to Indiana University, more pressure gets put on Notre Dame to continue to elevate if the Hoosiers win.

And you know what they say, pressure makes diamonds, which means the rooting interest is for the Hoo-Hoo-Hoosiers in Hotlanta.