Nick Saban stated that it seems to him that bad losses are being penalized more than good wins by the College Football Playoff committee. Saban believes good wins should be emphasized more because "that really shows you the strength of the team."
The comments by Saban could be interpreted as support for Miami in their quest to earn a CFP berth. Miami has been repeatedly behind Notre Dame in the four weeks of the 2025 CFP rankings. The Hurricanes were penalized for what the committee stated were losses to two unranked teams.
Miami lost to Louisville and SMU. Louisville and SMU were unranked when Miami lost to them. SMU is 21st in the CFP rankings that were released on Tuesday night. Notre Dame is the highest-ranked team Miami has beaten in 2025. The highest-ranked team Notre Dame defeated in 2025 was number 17 USC.
Miami and Notre Dame are 9-2 entering the final week of the regular season. After this weekend, Miami and Notre Dame will have played four mutual opponents. Miami beat Notre Dame 27-24 in the season opener on August 31. North Carolina State and Syracuse have both lost to Notre Dame in 2025.
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Miami and Notre Dame common opponents
Miami plays at Pittsburgh on Saturday and Notre Dame is at Stanford. The Hurricanes have a win over the Cardinal, and the Fighting Irish beat the Panthers. Notre Dame remains ranked ahead of Miami because of the subjective analysis that the Fighting Irish are playing better than the Hurricanes.
Miami can earn a second win over a ranked team on Saturday. Pittsburgh is currently 22nd in the CFP rankings. If Miami defeats Pittsburgh, the Panthers will likely drop out of the CFP rankings. Florida State and South Florida are not currently ranked, but both were 18th in the Associated Press Top 25 when they lost to Miami.