Mario Cristobal calls for more emphasis on head-to-head results: 'It's why we play the game'

Miami head coach Mario Cristobal made his stance clear on Monday. He believes head-to-head results should carry the most weight in the College Football Playoff conversation.

“I would say the No. 1 criteria — anything — is always head-to-head,” Cristobal said, via a press conference. “It’s why we play the game. So I think that always has been, and always will be, the No. 1 factor in determining whatever relates to whatever.”

Cristobal’s comments come as Miami sits behind Notre Dame in the latest CFP rankings despite beating the Irish earlier this season. Both teams hold two losses, but the committee has slotted Notre Dame ahead based on its overall résumé.

The Hurricanes, meanwhile, believe their on-field result should speak louder. It’s evident that’s not the full story at the moment, even if Cristobal thinks it should be enough.

Regardless, Miami closes the regular season with two tough road tests at Pitt and Virginia Tech. Cristobal hopes the committee remembers what happened when the Hurricanes and Irish shared the same field.

More on Miami Hurricanes, College Football Playoff

Moreover, the fallout from the College Football Playoff rankings being released Tuesday has provided plenty of discussion about Notre Dame and Miami. Both teams made the playoff, with the Fighting Irish coming in at No. 9 and the Hurricanes at No. 13 but receiving an auto bid as the highest ranked ACC school.

That led to ESPN analyst Rece Davis pressing CFP committee chair Hunter Yurachek for answers on how those teams landed where they did. Even though Miami defeated Notre Dame earlier this season and both have two losses, Yurachek pointed to the quality of those losses as being the main difference. 

“When you look at Notre Dame and Miami, we really compare the losses of those two teams,” he said. “Miami has lost to two unranked teams and Notre Dame has lost to two teams that are ranked in our top 13. So we really haven’t compared those two teams. They haven’t been in similarly comparative pools to date. But Miami is creeping up into that range where they will be compared to Notre Dame if something happens above them.”

Alas, based on their current ranking, we can’t count the Hurricanes out yet. Yurachek went on to say that while the committee hasn’t compared Miami and Notre Dame yet, the Hurricanes could eventually put themselves into that conversation. In that case, the head-to-head victory would hold a lot of weight. 

— On3’s Chandler Vessels contributed to this article.