The biggest source of controversy entering the 2025-26 College Football Playoff was the fact that Notre Dame was excluded from the 12-team field and Miami was let in. The Fighting Irish were ranked higher than the Hurricanes entering the conference championship weekend, of which Miami did not participate due to finishing third in the ACC, but were dropped for also sitting idle as an independent.
Despite the discourse, the Hurricanes have seemingly settled the heated debate with their unexpected appearance in the national championship game. Ironically, both Miami and Notre Dame have appeared in the last two championship matchups and faced Big Ten opponents.
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman made an appearance on ESPN's College GameDay ahead of the title game Monday and was naturally asked about how he and the Irish handled the controversial snub.
"It's up to us to leave no doubt."
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) January 19, 2026
Marcus Freeman shared his team's mindset after being left out of this year's CFP. pic.twitter.com/dmV7cdZexv
"First when you find out, you're disappointed, right? Because you get frustrated you don't have the answers for why," Freeman explained. "This was never a situation where we deserved to be in the playoffs in front of Miami or Alabama or anything like that. This was, the rankings have shown if we continue to win in the manner we were winning, it looks like we're going to make the playoff and we didn't
"The day we found out the response was one thing but after 24 hours the ability to get in front of your team and say, 'You know what, we have to move forward...' My message was, 'It's up to use to leave no doubt.' We left doubt."
Marcus Freeman's humility towards CFP exclusion means nothing after Notre Dame boycotted Pop-Tarts Bowl
It's good to hear to Freeman take some responsibility for the fact that, as a bubble team, Notre Dame didn't perform like a program that had convinced everyone it deserved a spot in the CFP. Anyone can argue until they are blue in the face why a three-loss Alabama did or didn't deserve a spot or why the ACC period didn't deserve a spot, but we're long past that now. Miami proved it belonged and SEC bias will never go away.
But like GameDay's Pat McAfee said half-jokingly right after Freeman finished giving his humble speech, it sounded a lot like he was still campaigning for the Irish.
The 40-year-old can preach all he wants about how he's got the team's mindset on leaving no doubt next year but that message is already moot considering he and the players didn't lead by example and follow that message to close out this year. Not in the final regular season games but their response to being excluded.
Notre Dame declined to participate in a bowl game this year, specifically in the Pop-Tarts Bowl against No. 12 BYU. While the name of the contest is rather unserious compared to the CFP, the Irish had the motivation and the talent to show up in Orlando and — wait for it — leave no doubt the committee made a huge mistake in leaving them out of the bracket.
Instead, the program got petty and ended the year early to stick it to a bunch of mega-rich suits that didn't bat an eye and a system that tends to only change when on-field results (and fan outrage) are undeniable. Boat racing the Big 12 runner up would've sent a message that the Irish deserved a spot as one of the best teams by quality.
Freeman's grandstanding on ESPN — the network owned by the very mega-rich suits the school was trying to stick it to — felt counterproductive and just invites more criticism. He knew he was going to be asked this question.
So making the decision to appear and talk about it at the national championship where Miami is participating and you're not (at least one Indiana team left no doubt) is like showing up to your ex's wedding and talking about your breakup. It's distasteful and could've (should've) been avoided.