Urban Meyer endorses Miami getting in College Football Playoff over Notre Dame

Urban Meyer didn’t hesitate when asked whether Notre Dame deserved to be slotted ahead of Miami in this year’s College Football Playoff. Speaking on The Triple Option podcast, Meyer made it clear. He believes the Hurricanes’ résumé, and more importantly, their head-to-head win over the Irish, needed to carry the final at-large spot into Selection Sunday.

“No, they lost to them head-to-head, and I love Notre Dame. I love Marcus Freeman,” Meyer said. “They had two quality games early in the year and they lost. Went on a run. They beat Boise and USC. I mean, those aren’t great wins — those are good wins. So, no.”

The national conversation throughout the week centered on how the CFP selection committee would weigh that Week 1 matchup in South Bend. That ended in a 27–24 Miami win that hung over the debate all season long. 

Despite Notre Dame’s strong close to the season and a surge that pushed them into contention, Meyer pointed to the simplest metric. That’s the fact that the Hurricanes beat the Irish on the field. In the end, that’s what mattered most to the committee. 

That game ultimately served as the decisive data point. As the committee evaluated résumés for the final at-large berth, Miami’s head-to-head victory, paired with a comparable overall profile gave the Hurricanes the edge, aligning with Meyer’s stance.

Meanwhile, Meyer reiterated his respect for Freeman and Notre Dame’s late-season progress, but he didn’t view their wins as enough to override the early-season result. On Selection Sunday, the committee agreed, moving the Hurricanes above the Irish.

More on Notre Dame, CFP snub

The outcome apparently blindsided Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua and the Irish administration. “My feelings and the feelings here are just shock. Really, an absolute sense of sadness for our student-athletes,” he told Yahoo Sports on Sunday. 

“Overwhelming shock and sadness. Like a collective feeling that we were all just punched in the stomach.”

Bevacqua went even further. He condemed the weekly CFP rankings as misleading. “Any rankings or show prior to this last one is an absolute joke and a waste of time,” he said. “Why put these young student-athletes through these false emotions just to pull the rug out from underneath them and shatter their dreams without explanation? We feel like the Playoff was stolen from our student-athletes.”

Later on, Notre Dame announced it would decline a bowl invitation as a result of the matter. According to On3’s Brett McMurphy, the Irish were slated to face BYU in the Pop-Tarts Bowl before opting out.

Whether Meyer and college football pundits at large agree with Notre Dame or not, they can see the sting is evident in South Bend. Time will tell how long it takes the Irish to get over narrowly missing the playoff, but it doesn’t seem like this hurt will go away gently.