Miami's run to national championship game proves Notre Dame fans were delusional

The Notre Dame-or-Miami argument was all anybody could talk about in college football for weeks. So, when Selection Sunday rolled around and the College Football Playoff committee slid Miami into the field and left Notre Dame out, Irish fans went crazy.

But, now that Miami is headed to the national championship game, that whole debate looks silly. The committee pretty clearly made the right choice, and Miami has spent the last month proving it on the field.

Miami vs. Notre Dame for the final CFP spot

In the final CFP rankings released Dec. 7, Miami finished No. 10 at 10-2 and Notre Dame finished No. 11 at 10-2. The separator ended up being the matchup between the teams in Week 1. Miami beat Notre Dame 27-24 on Aug. 31.

Committee chair Hunter Yurachek said Miami's head-to-head win mattered once the teams ended up side by side in the final debate, especially after BYU lost and dropped in the rankings.

Notre Dame's response was to go public, complain, and give vague threats to the ACC. Athletic director Pete Bevacqua criticized the process and the weekly ranking shows, calling them misleading. Notre Dame also opted out of bowl season altogether after the snub.

Opting out of the Pop-Tarts Bowl doesn't matter here. Who cares about that. And he's got a point about the weekly shows. There is a case to be made that the Irish felt they got the rug pulled from under them. The committee needs to be more consistent with that.

Here's the thing, though. With the football that Miami has played in the CFP, which has led them to one win away from being national champions, this should have never been a discussion. Miami had the head-to-head win, and they have clearly shown why they were a better team than Notre Dame, even if Vegas would have favored the Irish in early December.

Miami's run in the College Football Playoff

As the No. 10 seed, Miami went on the road in the first round and beat No. 7 Texas A&M 10-3. Then the Hurricanes followed it up by beating No. 2 Ohio State 24-14 in the quarterfinal round. And in the semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl, Miami beat Ole Miss 31-27 to punch its ticket to the title game. That's three CFP wins against teams the committee ranked in the top seven.

Meanwhile, Notre Dame's biggest argument was what they would have been able to do if it wasn't Week 1 when they faced Miami. By the looks of it, the Irish would not have done anything in the postseason.

Notre Dame does deserve a bone here. The SEC has gotten some special treatment by the committee for the dominance the conference displayed for about 15 years. But, the rest of the college football world has clearly caught up. So, when Alabama lost the SEC championship game to Georgia, there probably should have been more consideration from the CFP committee to drop them, just like they did BYU.

Obviously it's a tricky precedent to set since neither Notre Dame or Miami played on championship weekend and earned an extra game. And Alabama did defeat Oklahoma in the opening round on the road, so, the CFP committee can get another pass on that one.

Miami will play undefeated Indiana (15-0) for the national title on Jan. 19 at 7:30 p.m. ET. The Hoosiers reached the final by blowing out Oregon 56-22 in the Peach Bowl semifinal.