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Notre Dame finished the regular season with a 10-2 record and was ranked No. 10 in the penultimate College Football Playoff rankings heading into conference championship weekend.
The Fighting Irish did not play this weekend because the football program is not part of any conference. Notre Dame was on the field against BYU and Miami with college football fans clamoring for the Hurricanes to take the field given their victory over the Fighting Irish in the regular season.
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Notre Dame running back Jadarian Price (24) is tackled by Stanford safety Darrius Davis (29) during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025, in Stanford, California. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
On Sunday, the College Football Playoff committee opted to keep the Fighting Irish off the field. Miami made the College Football Playoff, as did Alabama despite three losses. The Tulane Green Wave and James Madison Dukes also made the finals as the best teams to win their conference championships. The Duke Blue Devils won the ACC, but were held back with five losses under their belt.
The college football world weighed in on Notre Dame’s exclusion.
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Notre Dame running back Jeremiah Love, center, celebrates with teammates after scoring a touchdown during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Stanford, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025, in Stanford, California. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
CFP committee chairman Hunter Yurachek said the committee decided to pass Miami over BYU after the Cougars lost in the Big 12 championship to the Texas Tech Red Raiders. This was BYU’s second loss to Texas Tech during the season.
Afterward, Yurachek said the committee did a side-by-side comparison between Notre Dame and Miami and decided to keep the Fighting Irish out of the bracket.
“You look at these two teams on paper and they were almost equal in terms of strength of schedule, in terms of common opponents, in terms of results against their common opponents, but the only metric we had to rely on was head-to-head,” Yurachek said on ESPN. “I tasked the committee members to go back and watch that game because it was so far away and we had an interesting debate from our coaches about what that game was like.
“It is with this in mind that we prioritized Miami, rather than Notre Dame, for that 10th spot.”
Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr (13) runs with the ball during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Stanford, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025, in Stanford, California. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
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Yurachek said the committee felt Miami should have been seeded ahead of BYU after the Cougars’ performance in the Big 12 title game, then the committee compared the Hurricanes to the Fighting Irish.
