College Football Playoff committee Chairman, Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek stated after the release of the rankings on Tuesday night, Notre Dame is ahead of Miami in the rankings because the Fighting Irish were defeated by two ranked teams and the Hurricanes lost to a pair of unranked teams.
Comparing Notre Dame and Miami in the CFP rankings
Notre Dame began the 2025 season with losses to third-ranked Texas A&M and number 13 Miami. The Fighting Irish have won eight consecutive games entering the final two weeks of the regular season. Miami lost to Louisville and SMU, who are not in the CFP rankings this week.
Louisville was 15th in the initial rankings released after week 10 and 20th after week 11, before dropping out this week. Pittsburgh, Miami's week 14 opponent, dropped out of the rankings this week after being 22nd following week 12.
While the committee states that Notre Dame has better losses than Miami, the Hurricanes have a better quality win than the Fighting Irish. The Miami win over Notre Dame is better than the Fighting Irish's best victory, beating USC, the 15th-ranked team in the week 12 CFP rankings.
"I think when you look at Notre Dame and Miami, we really compare the losses of those two teams....Miami has lost to two unranked teams, Notre Dame has lost to two teams we have ranked in our Top 13. We really haven’t compared those two teams - they haven’t been in similar comparative pools to date, but Miami is creeping up into that range where they’ll be compared to Notre Dame if something happens above them."CFP Committee Chair Hunter Yurachek
Notre Dame finishes the season against Syracuse and Stanford. Miami beat Stanford and Syracuse by a combined 80-17 margin in 2025. The other common opponents for Miami and Notre Dame in 2025 are Pittsburgh and North Carolina State.
Miami beat North Carolina State 41-7 on Saturday and plays at Pittsburgh in the final game of the regular season on November 29. Notre Dame beat North Carolina State 36-7 and Pittsburgh 37-15 on Saturday. Miami and Notre Dame will finish the season with four common opponents in addition to playing head-to-head.
The CFP committee seems to be arbitrarily deciding who makes its postseason tournament. Notre Dame having two "quality losses" is sending a message that who you lose to is more important than who you beat. The selection process needs to become more transparent.