Paul Finebaum makes emphatic guarantee for winner between Notre Dame, Miami

The 2025 college football season is officially here, ushered in by Saturday’s Big 12 season-opening showdown in Dublin, where No. 22 Iowa State escaped Ireland with a 24-21 upset of No. 17 Kansas State. Now, after some compelling Week 0 action, all eyes turn to multiple highly-anticipated Week 1 matchups, including a Top-10 opener between No. 6 Notre Dame and No. 10 Miami.

That includes ESPN and SEC Network host Paul Finebaum, who once again used his “crystal” ball for a “Crystal Paul” segment on Sunday’s SportsCenter to predict the winner next Sunday’s 7:30 pm ET kickoff in Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium. In a rematch of 1988’s infamous “Catholics vs. Convicts” game, Finebaum went all-in on the Fighting Irish once again coming out on top.

“I want to talk about one team here, because I am nervous,” Finebaum said Sunday afternoon. “There’s a game a week from tonight in Miami, you probably heard about this. (It will be) the luck of the Irish, as Notre Dame beats Miami. Guaranteed, right here.”

“Crystal” Paul couldn’t quite see far enough into the future to make a call on Notre Dame’s Week 2 game vs. Texas A&M, but he promised he’ll have more closer to the actual game.

Of course, Miami and Notre Dame have played multiple times since the infamous “Catholics vs. Convicts” game, which the Irish won 31-30. In fact, Notre Dame has a 5-2 record over the Hurricanes since that matchup, including winning four straight between 1990-2016 before Miami blasted the Irish 41-8 in their most-recent game on Nov. 11, 2017.

Heather Dinich emphasizes early result of Notre Dame vs. Miami for College Football Playoff

ESPN insider Heather Dinich previewed the Aug. 31 matchup between Notre Dame and Miami on ESPN’s Aug. 8 Get Up. She projected it to be an impactful game for each team with the result likely affecting both as programs likely contending for one of the seven at-large spots for the 2025 College Football Playoff.

“Huge. You know, remember the selection committee’s tiebreakers include head-to-head results. And what happens in Week One will resonate through selection day with this game. Why? Because both of these teams could be contending for one of those at-large bids,” Dinich said Aug. 8. “Notre Dame, obviously, can’t win a conference title and earn a guaranteed spot as one of the five highest-ranked conference champions. Miami can if it wins the ACC. But, if it doesn’t, whoever wins this game is going to earn that early edge in the selection committee rankings.”

— On3’s Sam Gillenwater contributed to this report.