By Jordan Grim • November 05, 2025 • 08:42 AM (PDT)
By Jordan Grim • November 05, 2025 • 08:42 AM (PDT)
The Fighting Irish and Hurricanes have identical records at 6-2, yet Miami is in a disastrous position.
The first College Football Playoff rankings have been released, and after two losses, Notre Dame holds the top spot at No. 10, eight spots above Miami. Miami is the team the Fighting Irish lost to in their season opener.
Reaction following Tuesday night’s vote largely focused on the selection committee’s positive view of Notre Dame, despite its only one win over a ranked opponent. This requires deeper consideration. For starters, head-to-head results only matter “when marginal circumstances indicate that the teams are comparable.” This is a literal adherence to the selection committee’s protocol.
The 13-member panel made it clear that Miami and Notre Dame, being two-loss teams, are not equal when considered as a whole. There’s some subjective recent bias when you consider the Hurricanes’ losses in their last three games, but the point is that Notre Dame’s advantage in strength of record (ranked 15th) and strength of schedule (ranked 23rd) are two factors that carry significant weight.
Notre Dame currently ranks two spots higher than Miami in the Massey Ratings and four spots higher in Jeff Sagarin’s algorithm. The only notable difference in the Hurricanes’ favor is that Miami ranks seventh in game control, while Notre Dame is tenth.
Before the initial revelation, Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said his team’s rankings were meaningless.
“I’m going “Using Saturday’s opportunity to motivate us is what matters,” Freeman said. I think relying on our playoff ranking is just a waste of time. If I sit in my office and try to use our ranking as motivation, I’m wasting time I should be using to prepare for this upcoming game.”
This mission-driven mindset is partly helping Notre Dame overcome what seemed like a bleak situation after falling behind 0-2. Things changed significantly after last month’s win over USC – a postseason elimination match of sorts for Freeman’s team.
The Fighting Irish have a chance to finish the regular season with a 10-game winning streak, the same kind of streak that helped Notre Dame reach the playoffs last season.
Selection committee chairman Mack Rhoades was asked about the eye test regarding Notre Dame on Tuesday night.
We use them all to try to get the best answer, and I think that’s where the public misses the mark a little bit. The beauty of it is that when we’re talking about all these metrics, there’s genuine debate, discussion, and conversation in the room.”
Although the “eye test” isn’t an official metric, there’s undoubtedly confirmation that what the selection committee sees matters.
A turning point in Notre Dame’s season was a 56-13 win at Arkansas that led to Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman’s exit after the Fighting Irish scored 42 points in the first half.
Quarterback C.J. Carr threw for his only four touchdowns of the season, and Notre Dame finally got Jeremiah Love and Jadarion Price involved in the run game. Since that road win, Notre Dame’s defense has improved significantly.
Last month’s 36-7 win over NC State is part of a season where the Fighting Irish were ranked higher than any ACC team, especially one-loss Georgia Tech, on Tuesday night. The Yellow Jackets nearly defeated the Wolfpack over the weekend. They lost 600 yards of total offense, while NC State was playing without tailback Hollywood Smothers, who has rushed for 825 yards this season.
Notre Dame’s Looking in the Mirror Moment
The Fighting Irish, after a fourth-down stop against No. 3 Texas A&M, are one step away from securing a win over the SEC’s only unbeaten team. The 41-40 loss to the Aggies was the closest game Mike Elko’s team has played this season, and they needed a 13-play, 74-yard touchdown drive in the final moments to secure the win in South Bend.
“How do we evaluate what we’re doing, why things are working and why they’re not, and how do we attack them and get better? “So we’re 0-2, losing to two good opponents,” Freeman said after the loss. “We’ve got 12 (games) to play, that’s what we always say.”
No one pointed fingers at Notre Dame after the Aggies gave up 24 first downs and 488 total yards, but it was a chance to introspect about what was going wrong with the defense despite its remarkable talent and returning veterans.
Notre Dame has performed impressively since that winless start, and the selection committee has taken note. Currently ranked tenth, Notre Dame is considered the “last team standing” because if the season ended today, the eleventh and twelfth spots would go to the ACC and Group of Six champions.
For Miami, even a 10-2 record wouldn’t be enough to secure a spot in the 12-team bracket unless widespread chaos erupts in the ACC and elsewhere.
“For Miami, I’d say it all comes down to their inconsistency,” Rhoades said. “We simply need Miami to show more consistency in the closing moments.”
The Fighting Irish will conclude the season this month against Navy, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and Stanford. Pittsburgh is ranked 24th in the first CFP rankings, giving Notre Dame a chance to reach second place before the committee’s final meeting in December.