‘Make it Make Sense’: Questions Grow Around CFP Process as Notre Dame Drops and Miami Gains Despite Earlier Gap

The College Football Playoff selection committee has a peculiar way of explaining itself. Two weeks ago, the committee placed Notre Dame eight spots ahead of Miami in its initial rankings. The Fighting Irish sat at No. 10 while the Hurricanes landed at No. 18. Fast forward to Tuesday night’s third rankings release, and that gap has shrunk to just four spots. Notre Dame now ranks No. 9, Miami No. 13. Both teams carry identical 8-2 records.

Here’s where it gets interesting. Miami defeated Notre Dame 27-24 in Week 1 back on August 31. That’s a head-to-head result. The kind that typically matters when the selection committee evaluates teams. Except when it doesn’t.

Committee chair Hunter Yurachek explained on the ESPN broadcast that Miami has lost to two unranked teams while Notre Dame has lost to two teams ranked in the committee’s top 13.

Fair enough. But Yurachek added something that raised more questions than it answered. “We really haven’t compared those two teams. They haven’t been in similar comparable pools to date. But Miami is creeping up into that range where they will be compared to Notre Dame if something happens above them,” he said.

On3’s Tyler Horka captured the confusion on his X handle (formerly Twitter): “The CFP committee’s stance on Notre Dame-Miami is admittedly confusing now… ND was ranked 8 spots better two weeks ago. Down to 4. And if Miami gets any closer, suddenly head-to-head matters because the two teams have entered the same comparison ‘pool’? Make it make sense,” Horka wrote.

The CFP committee’s stance on Notre Dame-Miami is admittedly confusing now…

ND was ranked 8 spots better two weeks ago. Down to 4. And if Miami gets any closer, suddenly head-to-head matters because the two teams have entered the same comparison “pool”?

Make it make sense.

— Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) November 19, 2025

The sentiment reflects what many observers are thinking. If head-to-head results only count when teams enter some undefined comparison pool, what’s the point of scheduling these games in the first place?

The Committee’s Shifting Standards Create a Credibility Problem for the Selection Process

The committee’s protocol states that head-to-head results apply when teams are comparable. That makes sense in theory. But the execution reveals a subjective standard that changes week to week. Notre Dame’s edge in strength of record at 15th and strength of schedule at 23rd are factors with heavy significance.

The Irish have won eight straight games after starting 0-2. Miami has dropped two of its last three, including losses to unranked Louisville and SMU.

Former committee chair Mack Rhoades explained two weeks ago that the committee uses “art and science” when evaluating teams, watching film to assess how physical teams are up front, quarterback play, and skill position talent, per CBS Sports.

That eye test carries weight. Perhaps more weight than the committee wants to admit publicly. Notre Dame has looked dominant during its winning streak. Miami has looked inconsistent. But the Irish also lost head-to-head to Miami, and that result happened on a football field, not in a film room.

The comparison pool concept introduces a moving target that makes the process feel arbitrary. If Miami wins its final two games against Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh, the Hurricanes finish 10-2. Notre Dame faces Syracuse and Stanford to close the regular season.

If the Irish win both, they also finish 10-2. At that point, both teams will have played similar schedules in terms of difficulty. Both will have two losses. And one will have beaten the other on the field.

The committee faces a decision that will test its credibility. Miami would be the first team in CFP history with a legitimate claim that it was robbed if both teams finish 10-2 but only Notre Dame makes the playoff.

The situation differs from Florida State’s snub in 2023, which the committee explained by pointing to the Seminoles losing their starting quarterback Jordan Travis. No such extenuating circumstance exists here. Just two teams with identical records, one of which won the head-to-head matchup.

Miami coach Mario Cristobal said it plainly in an interview with Miami radio station AM 560. “I would say the number one criteria for anything is always head-to-head. I mean, it’s why we play the game, right? So I think that always has been, and always will be, the number one factor in determining whatever relates to whatever,” he stated, according to Sports Illustrated.

At some point, what happens on the field needs to matter more than what happens in the evaluation room. Otherwise, why play the games at all?