Overview
- Miami and Alabama secured the final at-large berths in the 12-team College Football Playoff, with Notre Dame finishing No. 11 and missing the field.
- Committee chair Hunter Yurachek said head-to-head carried weight only once Miami and Notre Dame were adjacent in the rankings, noting BYU’s title-game blowout loss to Texas Tech affected the late ordering.
- Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua denounced the weekly rankings as a “farce,” and the school withdrew from bowl consideration after the Selection Sunday decision.
- Sources confirmed ESPN’s media-rights deal requires five weekly ranking reveals before the final bracket, and Yurachek said he does not see a need to change that cadence.
- On-air scrutiny intensified as ESPN host Rece Davis pressed Yurachek on why head-to-head only mattered at the end, and separate reports accused ESPN announcers of advocating for Miami during broadcasts.