Notre Dame missed the 2025 College Football Playoff mainly because of its early losses and how the selection committee weighed strength of schedule and head‑to‑head results.
Key reasons
- Notre Dame finished 10–2, with both losses coming in the first three weeks, by a combined four points to Miami and Texas A&M, which gave the committee an easy knock against their résumé.
- The committee put heavy emphasis on Miami’s head‑to‑head win over Notre Dame in the opener, using that as the separator when both teams had similar records and profiles.
- Notre Dame lacked wins over top‑15 opponents; their best victories (for example USC and Pitt) did not carry as much weight compared with the marquee wins on Miami’s and Alabama’s résumés.
- Alabama, despite having three losses, was rewarded for a tougher schedule and higher‑value wins, and jumped into the field while Notre Dame slid to ninth and ended up as the first team out.
Snapshot comparison
Factor| Notre Dame 2025| Miami 2025 / Alabama 2025
---|---|---
Final record| 10–2 regular season.46| Similar or worse record but tougher
slates.268
Key negative| Week 1 loss at Miami; close loss to A&M.246| Miami: head‑to‑head
win vs ND; Alabama: 3 losses but SEC title‑game run and marquee wins.26
Top‑15 wins| None; wins over USC, Pitt not top‑15.48| Miami and Alabama had
higher‑ranked wins that the committee valued more.268
In short, the combination of two early narrow losses, no elite wins, and losing the head‑to‑head tiebreaker to Miami is what kept Notre Dame out of the playoff bracket in 2025.
