By When Notre Dame missed the College Football Playoff last season after losing a head-to-head matchup to Miami, the return of the rivalry in South Bend this year was circled by everyone within the Fighting Irish program.
The stakes only grew after Notre Dame fell in a top-10 showdown against BYU on Oct. 17, shrinking the Fighting Irish's margin for error in the 2026College Football Playoff race and making their matchup against Miami a pivotal one for their postseason hopes.
Marcus Freeman's squad met the moment in Saturday's clash in South Bend, as No. 6 Notre Dame held on for a 31-24 win against top-ranked Miami behind an overall impressive game from CJ Carr.
Carr, who took a slight shot for his performance against BYU from former Alabama coach Nick Saban on the "New Heights" podcast this week, delivered 319 passing yards and three touchdown passes in the win.
The win moves Notre Dame to 8-1 heading into the final three weeks of the regular season.
So, with a signature win in South Bend on Saturday, which will be celebrated for a while (or decades, given the history of the rivalry), has Freeman's squad done enough to lock up a spot in what could be the final 12-team CFP field before it doubles in size?
Here's a deeper look:
Is Notre Dame a lock for CFP after Miami win?
Given that the Irish entered Week 10 in a do-or-die situation for their CFP path, as the CFP committee placed them at No. 11 in Tuesday's initial rankings, it appears Notre Dame is a lock for the 12-team field.
Notre Dame lacked a signature on its CFP resume entering Saturday's matchup vs. Miami, as the Fighting Irish were unable to beat their lone ranked opponent earlier in the season in BYU — despite having a chance at the end. Freeman's squad now has that signature win against the No. 1 overall team in the country in all three major rankings: the US LBM Coaches Poll, the AP Top 25 and CFP top 25.
"They are a very good football team. But when you look at Notre Dame's schedule and the wins that they have vs. the teams that are ahead of them, they don't have that signature win right now," CFP committee chair Hunter Yurachek said on Tuesday on ESPN. "They lost in their only top 25 matchup at BYU. Their next best win is on a neutral site against Wisconsin.
"They've got a great opportunity in front of them this weekend at home versus Miami to get that signature win that I think they need to move up in the rankings. But the committee is very impressed by them. They wouldn't be 11th if we were not."
Saturday's win against Miami should be enough for the CFP committee to keep Notre Dame penciled into a spot in the top 11 of the CFP top 25 rankings until Selection Sunday on Dec. 6. That said, should Notre Dame drop one of its final three regular season games — vs. Boston College, SMU and Syracuse — things could get dicey again for the Fighting Irish as a two-loss team, just as it was a season ago.
Notre Dame also has something working in its favor for the 2026 CFP that it didn't have a year ago: The Fighting Irish have a memorandum of understanding with the College Football Playoff that guarantees them a berth in the 12-team field if they finish ranked No. 12 or better in the final CFP rankings.
CFP rankings
Below is a look at how the projected 12-team CFP bracket from the selection committee's first CFP top 25 rankings performed in Week 10:
Note: Rankings below represent teams' projected CFP seeding
- Miami: Lost to No. 11 Notre Dame, 31-24
- Georgia: beat No. 10 Ole Miss, 42-7
- Utah: Beat No. 9, BYU 28-20
- Indiana: BYE
- Alabama: Beat LSU, 31-13
- Kentucky: Lost 34-6 to No. 13 Tennessee
- Texas: Beat Missouri, 34-20
- UCLA: Beat Minnesota, 34-20
- BYU: Lost to No. 3 Utah, 28-20
- Ole Miss: lost 42-7 to No. 2 Georgia
- Notre Dame: Beat No. 1 Miami, 31-24
- Boise State: In action vs. Colorado State
Notre Dame football schedule
Below is a look at Notre Dame's remaining games:
- Saturday, Nov. 14: vs. Boston College | 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC
- Saturday, Nov. 21: vs. SMU | 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC
- Saturday, Nov. 28: at Syracuse
Click here to view the Fighting Irish's full 2026 schedule.
Be sure to check out USA TODAY Sports' new College Football Unfiltered podcast, hosted by USA TODAY Sports columnist Blake Toppmeyer. You can stream on YouTube or download via Apple podcasts and Spotify.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Notre Dame rises to CFP committee's challenge vs Miami. Did Fighting Irish lock in playoff?
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/notre-dame-rises-cfp-committees-042858645.html
