College Football Show Host Blasts Committee’s Approach to Miami-Notre Dame Rankings

There is serious scrutiny on the College Football Playoff committee as the season winds down. Josh Pate, host of the popular College Football Show, voiced serious concerns about how the selection committee appears set to look past Miami’s head-to-head victory over Notre Dame when the two programs sit with identical 9-2 records.

The Fighting Irish currently hold the No. 9 position in Tuesday’s latest rankings while the Hurricanes are three spots behind at No. 12 despite winning their season-opening matchup against Notre Dame 27-24 on a last-second field goal back in late August.

Pate’s frustration centered on what he sees as the committee preparing to devalue the one element that should matter most: the actual results on the field. According to his show, ESPN’s Heather Dinich already began explaining the committee’s reasoning during Tuesday’s rankings reveal, suggesting Notre Dame’s losses to ranked opponents carry more weight than Miami’s head-to-head win.

The host made his disdain for the committee’s methodology clear.

“There are few things in life I care less about than the committee’s eyeball test,” Pate said on the latest episode of his show. He added that half the committee is comprised of athletic directors, and even the former coaches among them should know that their eyeball test isn’t worth much.

People like @JoshPateCFB need to have a say in this College Football Playoff discussion.

Whether you believe Notre Dame would beat Miami today is irrelevant. The two teams played and Miami won.

The committee is trying to diminish the one thing that matters most—the GAMES. pic.twitter.com/nOXcmOJHZh

— Gaby Urrutia (@GabyUrrutia247) November 26, 2025

Pate referred to comments from ESPN analyst Booger McFarland during the rankings show, in which McFarland advocated concentration on resumes and not subjective evaluation, saying the selection process should be about a resume and not a beauty pageant.

Committee Chair Defends Rankings Despite Head-to-Head Result

Selection committee chair Hunter Yurachek spoke to the Notre Dame-Miami situation on ESPN, where he said both teams were compared in the same grouping as Alabama and BYU, but the committee still views Notre Dame as a complete team that has been consistent throughout the season.

Yurachek and the committee have repeatedly identified the quality of Notre Dame’s losses as a differentiator. The Irish lost to No. 13 Miami and No. 3 Texas A&M by a combined four points in their opening two games before reeling off nine straight wins. Miami, meanwhile, lost to unranked Louisville and SMU during a midseason slump.

The committee has indicated they compare the losses of the two teams, with Yurachek noting Miami lost to two unranked opponents while suggesting the teams haven’t been in similar comparative pools to date.

That reasoning has been criticized by some who feel the committee’s protocol calls for head-to-head results to matter when teams are comparable.

Pate took issue with suggestions that the Sept matchup no longer holds relevance.

Miami plays host to Pittsburgh this Saturday in a pivotal matchup with implications for which team could end up in the ACC Championship Game. The scenario goes that Miami wins, Virginia loses to Virginia Tech, and California beats SMU.

Even if that path closes, the Hurricanes need their resume to climb close enough to Notre Dame’s that the committee can’t justify keeping them separate in their  process anymore.