Pete Bevacqua pitches Notre Dame's CFP case, dismisses Miami debate: 'Nobody wins the race at the starting line'

The raging debate over No. 10 Notre Dame and No. 12 Miami has Irish athletics director Pete Bevacqua, quite frankly, a bit confused.

In his mind, the College Football Playoff Selection Committee has already spoken on that front. For five straight weeks, the committee has ranked Notre Dame above Miami. And there’s a reason for that, Bevacqua explained Friday afternoon on the Pat McAfee Show.

“Hats off to Ohio State and Indiana, to have undefeated seasons like they’ve had this year in 2025 is such an accomplishment,” Bevacqua said. “But I think with the exception of those two teams who are undefeated, we’re the hottest team in the country. I don’t think anybody’s playing better than Notre Dame.”

The Hurricanes do, of course, have a head-to-head win over the Irish. They won 27-24 on Aug. 31 in Miami Gardens, Fla. But in Bevacqua’s eyes, that shouldn’t carry as much weight as Miami fans and some in the national media think it should.

Since that Week 1 matchup, the Irish have won 10 of 11 games, with their only loss coming at the hands of No. 7 Texas A&M. The Canes have stumbled twice against unranked opponents, once at home against Louisville and again on the road at SMU.

“It was the first game of the season,” Bevacqua said. “Nobody wins the race at the starting line. And I really think right now, there’s not a team in the country playing better football than the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.”

Bevacqua’s feeling — and he’s not wrong, based on what committee chair Hunter Yuracheck said Tuesday night — that the much stronger debate has been between Notre Dame and No. 9 Alabama. The committee moved the Crimson Tide ahead of the Irish in its most recent rankings, a decision both Bevacqua and head coach Marcus Freeman disagreed with.

That could change based on Alabama’s performance in the SEC Championship Game against No. 3 Georgia. Bevacqua did admit that Notre Dame badly needs No. 5 Texas Tech to beat No. 11 BYU in the Big 12 Championship Game, though.

“I think everybody in Notre Dame nation is a Texas Tech fan this week,” Bevacqua said. “I have great admiration for Texas Tech and BYU. But no secret, we want Texas Tech to win that game.”

If that happens, Bevacqua believes, the Irish should be in no matter what Alabama and Georgia do.

“I don’t see any way where we can drop two spots and Miami can go up two spots,” Bevacqua said. “The committee has always had us ahead of them. The committee has admitted that it’s always been a conversation — a fierce conversation, if you listen to Hunter — between who deserves to be ahead of each other, Notre Dame and Alabama.

“Our feeling, our hope, is if Texas Tech can beat BYU, we’re in. The question is, are we gonna be 10th or ninth? That’s what we’re going with. And again, I come back to the fact — hats off to Indiana and Ohio State, amazing seasons — other than that, I would go toe to toe with anybody in saying that we are the hottest team in the country right now.”

ESPN will reveal the 12-team College Football Playoff field at noon ET on Sunday. When it does, Irish fans and others around the country will find out if Bevacqua is right.