Major changes predicted after controversial College Football Playoff decision

The decision by the College Football Playoff to snub Notre Dame in favor of Miami could result in the format undergoing more change, ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler has suggested.

ESPN college football announcer Chris Fowler thinks more change is coming to the playoff after Notre Dame's snub. | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

Whatever decisions the College Football Playoff selection committee eventually make, there seems to always be some form of controversy, and the 2025 bracket was no different after a consequential decision between Miami and Notre Dame.

With that controversy in mind, ESPN college football announcer Chris Fowler believes the playoff format and selection process could undergo yet more reform in the future.

More change could be on the way

“This is a bracket that’s going to be talked about forever. And not just because Notre Dame got excluded. But because of the framework that created the choices that the committee had to make,” Fowler said on Sunday’s selection show.

Fowler pointed to the “tweak” the College Football Playoff made a year ago, when it ended the confusing distinction between seeding and ranking, and believes another structural alteration could follow after this year’s dilemma.

“There’s going to be something more than a tweak going forward because all of a sudden, inclusivity, which most people in the sport think is a pretty good idea...

“Inclusivity sounds good until teams like Notre Dame and Texas and Vanderbilt get squeezed out. Then people have a serious problem with it.” he said.

Notre Dame felt it coming

Schools take a brave face in public when they have a chance to make the playoff, but the reality behind the scenes is often a little more nerve-racking.

Fowler added: “This is one we’re going to talk about for a long, long time. If you’re Notre Dame, you’re crushed. They were worried about this.” 

“I know they projected confidence, but there was a lot of unease on the part of Marcus Freeman and others because they saw them drop last week and now in consecutive weeks without playing, they have dropped in the rankings. And it ends up costing them despite a 10-game winning streak to finish the season.” 

Miami over Notre Dame was the right call

Notre Dame had been ranked ahead of Miami in the College Football Playoff rankings until Selection Day itself, when they swapped the Irish for the lower-ranked Hurricanes at the most crucial moment.

Still, despite whatever criticism there may be around the selectors’ decision-making process or timing, what happened on the field still should trump everything else, the ESPN veteran says.

“I have no problem with Miami getting in based on the head-to-head, even though it was early in the season,” Fowler said. 

“They won that game at the line of scrimmage... That was real. It was a late field goal that won it, but it still matters. And I think has to matter, or there’s no incentive to schedule any kind of meaningful non-conference game. 

“That’s not the committee’s job to protect that, or the committee’s job to protect with a sentimental eye [the] conference championship games, but those are also in danger, as we know, going forward.”