Marcus Freeman's CFP title game update is something Miami fans can laugh at

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman will join ESPN's College GameDay as a guest analyst ahead of Monday night's College Football Playoff national championship between Miami and Indiana at Hard Rock Stadium.

Notre Dame HC Marcus Freeman joins College GameDay crew

Freeman has recent games both programs. He opened the 2025 season across the sideline from the Hurricanes in Miami's 27-24 win over Notre Dame, a game decided on a late field goal after Carson Beck's first start in a Miami uniform. And just a year earlier, Freeman coached Notre Dame in a first-round CFP win over Indiana. Notre Dame dominated the trenches in that matchup and won 27-17.

ESPN's championship-day coverage is set to begin with College GameDay at 5 p.m. ET, with the title game later that night.

Freeman's presence is interesting for Miami fans because he has already seen this Hurricanes roster up close. In that season opener, Miami snapped a long skid against top-10 opponents, and the game would eventually become one of the biggest reasons that the Hurricanes made it into the CFP over Notre Dame.

The Miami-ND debate engulfed the sport of college football for a month. Many doubted the Hurricanes and believed that Notre Dame should have gotten into the CFP over Miami despite the Week 1 result. Miami ended up getting the last laugh in all of this, though, as Freeman can only commentate from the GameDay set as the Canes chase another ring.

For Indiana, Freeman can speak to how the Hoosiers have evolved since that 2024 playoff loss to Notre Dame, and what it takes to survive the grind of the postseason.

Both Miami and Indiana are making their debut in the CFP national championship game. Freeman's perspective should add something different to the usual roundtable, especially on the details that decide title games and his experience against both programs.