The Committee Got It Right

     The 2025 College Football Playoff debate delivered the most polarized selection so far in the short life of 12 team college football playoff, and nowhere was the controversy louder than in Coral Gables. Despite finishing with a résumé that many analysts viewed as superior, the Miami Hurricanes looked like they were going to be left on the outside looking in with Notre Dame claiming the final Playoff spot. However, at the 11^th hour in the true dysfunctional ways of the college football playoff committee, Miami was awarded the last at large spot over Notre Dame and Texas. ABL sports thinks the real argument should have been between Miami and Texas with Notre Dame being the least deserving team in this scenario and you will see why by reading the arguments made below.  In this article, ABL sports is going to go over the case each team had for making the playoff and why Miami should have been the recipient of the final at large bid.

Miami

The Hurricanes finished the regular season mark at 10-2 with losses to Louisville at home and SMU on the road. Key wins included beating No. 6 Notre Dame, Rival Florida, and dominating No. 18 Florida State on the road. Miami started off the season beating Notre Dame 27-24 but the school did not indicate how the game went. Miami was the more physical team, leaning on Notre Dame, and controlling the whole game with their dominance at the line of scrimmage. Even though Florida did not end up being that good this year, scheduling a power 4 conference opponent should be rewarded. That is why Ohio State was ranked number one ever week after they beat No. 3 Texas in the first game of the season. Also the Hurricanes should receive credit for the Florida State game as well because at the time it was a ranked matchup and was viewed by many as the biggest game of that week. Playoff teams must be able to perform under the spotlight. The fact that Miami beat Notre Dame should end the argument right there on why the Hurricanes deserve a playoff spot over the Fighting Irish. However, they still must prove their case over Texas. If the teams did not play head-to-head the next best way to measure success is common opponents. They both played the Florida Gators and Miami beat them 26-7 at home while Texas went to the swamp and lost 29-21. Yes, I know one team had to go on the road so ABL sports is going to use a metric used by sportsbooks to determine what would’ve happened if these games both happened on a neutral field. Tough environments in college football are typically word 3.5 points when making a point spread. Florida is one of the toughest places to play in college football so we will round up and give Texas 4 points. Since Miami played Florida at home, we’ll give Florida 3 points in that game because Miami is not tougher to play at than most SEC schools. Adding those respective point totals to the finals scores Miami would’ve beaten Florida 26-10 on a neutral field and in this scenario, Texas would’ve still lost to Florida 29-25. However, since that was the loudest the swamp has been in years, I personally think the home field advantage was worth more points so I’ll actually give Texas the win in a neutral sight game. At the end of the day, football is football and you can’t make up how Miami just flat out dominated Florida that night.

Texas

You Saw the case for Miami over Notre and Texas, so now here is the case for Texas over Notre Dame and the answer is pretty simple… COMMON OPONENT. The Longhorns ended their regular season with a major upset: a 27–17 win over the previously undefeated and top-ranked Texas A&M Aggies (The same team who went on the road and beat Notre Dame 41-40), a win that denied A&M a perfect regular season. In addition, If Texas didn’t play against Ohio State and went 10-2, they would be a shoe in for the playoff with all those big wins. Texas being left out of the playoff sends a message to all teams to cancel their big non-conference games and just schedule cupcakes in September. College football has the best regular season in all of sports and the Longhorns being left out of the playoff that just shortens the regular season by a month because the first 3-4 weeks in September will consist of some variation of Alabama vs Chattanooga every week until conference play.

Notre Dame

Yes, Notre Dame has been victim of some punches thrown in this article, but they should be left out. Yes, their ACC schedule screwed them over, but your best win can’t be against No 17. USC at home who struggles on the road and is a southern California team playing the pouring rain which favors Notre Dame. Notre Dame needs to schedule some big nonconference opponents or join a conference. Notre Dame is not allowed to use the excuse “we play who’s on our schedule.” Notre Dame makes their own and if it weren’t for Texas A&M being so good this year, the Irish would not even have an argument for being in the playoff.