Mario Cristobal addresses his preferred College Football Playoff format

Miami opened its 2025 campaign strong with a 27-24 win over Notre Dame inside Hard Rock Stadium last Sunday night. The matchup was one of the most anticipated of college football’s opening weekend and it certainly did not disappoint.

Hurricane kicker Carter Davis drilled a 38-yard field goal with 9:42 remaining in the fourth quarter to give Miami a 24-14 lead. Notre Dame then responded with a field goal of its own and a seven-yard rushing touchdown from CJ Carr with 3:21 remaining to knot the game at 24 apiece.

Davis however came up clutch for Miami once again, as his 47-yard field goal with 1:04 remaining was enough to push the Hurricanes over the edge for the monstrous opening weekend victory. Thanks to their win over the Fighting Irish, the Hurricanes seem to be off to a great start in making their first ever College Football Playoff.

Miami head coach Mario Cristobal joined ‘The Paul Finebaum Show‘ on Thursday, where he touched on the format of the College Football Playoff. Cristobal and his Hurricanes likely would have broken through that glass ceiling of the CFP last year, but their loss to Syracuse in their regular season finale slammed the door shut on those hopes.

“I don’t know, I don’t know,” Cristobal said. “I don’t know if there’s a way to get to that final point where it’s not a pageant as opposed to a competition. That’s the only part in the discussion. It’s ‘well you played this person and we didn’t. You won by this many and lost by that many’. It goes back to being a pageant as opposed to being settled on the field.

“I don’t know what the answer, I mean I do like the 11+5 model, but as long as we can continue to emphasize the importance of earning our way there and not automatically qualifying people into it because football is ever-changing and NIL is changing the face and the roster dynamics of every program around the country. I think you’re gonna see different teams in different years just do better than maybe anybody else could dream of being. Let it be settled on the field as much as possible.”

Cristobal isn’t lone CFB figure to campaign for 5+11 format

Under the 5-plus-11 format, the five highest-ranked conference champions would make the cut along with 11 at-large teams. Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark doubled down on his support for the format back at Big 12 Media Days.

“We continue to believe the 5-plus-11 model proposed by the Big 12 and the ACC is the right playoff format for college football,” Yormark said. “We want to earn it on the field and we do not need a professional model because we are not the NFL. We’re college football and we must act like it. There is nothing in sports like college football, and we must protect what makes it special and do what’s right for the fans and the game.

“I have a lot of faith in (Baylor Athletic Director) Mack Rhoades and the work that he’s doing with the selection committee. I have a lot of faith in what they’re doing. And 5-11 is fair. We want to earn it on the field. It might not be the best solution today for the Big 12 … but long-term, knowing the progress we’re making [and] the investments we’re making, it’s the right format for us.

“And I’m doubling down today on 5-11. And I know (ACC Commissioner) Jim Phillips will, and I’m sure some of the other conference commissioners will, as well.”