'College GameDay' announces unexpected guest for national championship game

ESPN's College GameDay will have a surprise guest for its 2025 national championship coverage.

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

The 2025 College Football Playoff has officially reached its final round. No. 1 Indiana (15-0, 9-0) will face No. 10 Miami (13-2, 6-2) in the national championship game at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, on Monday (7:30 p.m. EST, ESPN).

Prior to the game, ESPN's "College GameDay" will broadcast from Hard Rock Stadium to discuss the matchup between the Hoosiers and Hurricanes. The crew will have multiple important storylines to discuss, such as Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza's return to his hometown and Miami's opportunity to win a national championship in its home stadium.

ESPN may have added to the storylines themselves with a surprise addition to its show lineup for Monday. College GameDay announced that Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman would be joining the show as a guest analyst on Friday morning.

Freeman has seen both of these teams and coaches on the sideline opposite Notre Dame in the not-so-distant past. Indiana and Notre Dame are, of course, located in the same state, but they have seldom met on the gridiron in the last 60 years. The last matchup was in the first round of the 2024 College Football Playoff, a win for Freeman and the Fighting Irish over Indiana (27-17) in South Bend.

Notre Dame has actually played Miami less than Indiana historically, but there is far more vitriol between the Fighting Irish and the Hurricanes. There was the infamous 1988 game, a 31-30 victory for Notre Dame in South Bend. The most recent meeting was in the 2025 season opener, a result that held great sway over the College Football Playoff committee's selections.

The Hurricanes held on for a 27-24 victory over the Fighting Irish in Hard Rock Stadium. Notre Dame dropped another loss two weeks later to Texas A&M (41-40) while Miami dropped later losses to Louisville (24-21) and at SMU (26-20), meaning both teams finished the regular season at 10-2.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman smiles while participating in senior day activities before facing Syracuse | Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

Miami was one of three 10-win Power Five teams selected to the 2025 College Football Playoff, along with Alabama and Oklahoma, rather than Notre Dame. Out of protest, Notre Dame declined all potential bowl bids in 2025. The Fighting Irish also have a Memorandum of Understanding with the College Football Playoff committee: if they are ranked among the top 12 college football teams in the final rankings, they are guaranteed a spot in the College Football Playoffs.

Freeman just finished his fourth season as head coach of the Fighting Irish, now holding a 43-12 overall record. Despite receiving interest from NFL franchises for their head coaching openings, he has signed a contract extension to remain at Notre Dame.