![Florida Gators quarterback Graham Mertz (15) is sacked during the season opener at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, August 31, 2024 against the University of Miami Hurricanes in the second half. Miami defeated the Gators 41-17. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_2833,h_1593/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/200/01jw1y5cht2xw2c3qfdd.jpg "Florida Gators quarterback Graham Mertz (15) is sacked during the season opener at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, August 31, 2024 against the University of Miami Hurricanes in the second half. Miami defeated the Gators 41-17. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]")
The 2025 Miami season opener versus Notre Dame and the September 20 game against Florida were named by On3 as two of the top 10 2025 non-conference games by Pete Nakos of On3. Florida, Miami and Notre Dame are all consensus 2025 top 15 teams.
Miami beat Florida 41-17 in Gainesville in 2024. Florida and Miami will both have different looks in 2025. Graham Mertz was the starting quarterback for Florida in 2024 and Cam Ward led Miami as they shredded the Florida defense. Florida improved throughout the 2024 season, especially once freshman D.J. Lagway started at QB.
Miami has not played Notre Dame since a memorable 41-8 win over the third-ranked Fighting Irish during their 10-3 2017 season. Notre Dame was the national runner-up in the inaugural College Football Playoff last season. Notre Dame has to replace QB Riley Leonard.
Notre Dame is currently listed as a 1.5-point favorite over Miami by the FanDuel Sportsbook. Miami is -102 on the money line and Notre Dame is -118. The over/under for Notre Dame at Miami is 53.5. No line is currently posted for Florida at Miami.
FanDuel lists Notre Dame at +1500 to win the National Championship, Miami at +400 and Florida at +4900. Ohio State and Texas, who play opening weekend, are the top two favorites to win the National Championship and are listed by On3 as the top 2025 non-conference game.
Four of the top six 2025 non-conference games are scheduled for opening weekend. LSU is at Clemson and Alabama plays at Florida State in addition to Notre Dame at Miami and Texas at Ohio State on opening weekend. Eight of the top 10 2025 non-conference games listed are in the first month of the season.
In addition to Florida and Notre Dame, Miami also hosts Bethune-Cookman on September 6 and South Florida on September 13. Miami won 50-15 in 2024 at South Florida. The 2025 Miami non-conference schedule should be one of the toughest nationally. Clemson and Notre Dame are the only other teams listed multiple times.