One of the most followed teams in the country over the last couple of months won’t be taking part in the College Football Playoff.
Despite winning 10 consecutive games, Notre Dame found itself on the outside looking in. Alabama claimed the No. 9 seed while Miami snagged the No. 10 spot. The Crimson Tide has had an inconsistent few weeks, managing to edge out SEC rivals LSU, Auburn, and South Carolina. They also stumbled against a struggling Oklahoma State at home and suffered a heavy loss in the SEC Championship Game. On the other hand, Miami didn’t even make it to the ACC title match but gained momentum by defeating Notre Dame in their season opener.
In the last two weeks, Notre Dame’s ranking dropped two spots, even after a solid win against Stanford. Miami jumped ahead of them on Sunday.
According to ESPN’s committee chairman, Hunter Yurachek, Notre Dame was ranked higher than Miami until Sunday because the committee hadn’t directly compared the two teams until then. After they dropped BYU to No. 12, they had to consider both, and Miami’s win over Notre Dame became the key factor. Yurachek didn’t explain why BYU was excluded after its conference championship loss while Alabama remained included.
Another talking point was the automatic berth to the conference champion after Duke upset Virginia in the ACC title game. The committee decided to give that spot to James Madison, the Sun Belt champion, alongside Tulane, the AAC champion, marking two Group of Five victors.
In the first round of games, Alabama is set to face No. 8 Oklahoma, while Miami will play No. 7 Texas A&M. No. 11 Tulane will take on No. 6 Oregon State, and No. 12 James Madison is matched against No. 5 Oregon State.
No significant surprises emerged from the selections. Indiana, the Big Ten champion, landed the top spot, as anticipated, with defending national champion Ohio State and SEC champion Georgia following closely behind.
Texas Tech, crowned Big 12 champion, defeated BYU again in the conference championship game on Saturday, securing a final bye.
The final Big Ten team picked was Oregon State, with the Ducks securing the top at-large spot at No. 5.
Teams like Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma were chosen to fill the No. 6 to No. 8 spots, earning them the opportunity to host on-campus opening games.
