CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Mario Cristobal spent four seasons working under Nick Saban at Alabama and learned countless lessons, some of which stand out more than others.
And when we think about the College Football Playoff, one of Saban's quotes from Cristobal's time as an assistant stands out.
“If you want to make everyone happy, don't coach or play football. Go sell ice cream, because an ice cream guy makes everyone happy,” Cristobal said, recalling Saban's line. “Not everyone will be happy in football.”
A year ago, at 10-2 and snubbed by the CFP committee, Miami was unhappy.
This year at 10-2 and headed to Texas A&M The Hurricanes are excited about the playoffs. Ultimately it came down to an either/or choice. last place at largeMiami or Our Lady — and the committee had no choice but to finally recognize the Hurricanes. Won Season Opening 27–24 over “The Fighting Irishman”.
With that, Miami made the playoffs and Notre Dame's season ended. The Irish sent invitations to the bowltelling fans they would focus their attention on winning the national title in 2026. And yes, the Hurricanes and Irish are scheduled to play at Notre Dame next November.
“Notre Dame is a great football team,” Cristobal said. “Processes like this… all processes need to be re-evaluated and corrected where possible, but I think everyone is working on it. Last year we were expelled and we weren't very happy. It's a tough business, man. It's a really, really tough business. I respect each and everyone involved.”
The CFP selection committee was asked to review the Notre Dame-Miami game in recent days, and committee chairman Hunter Yurachek said everything was outstanding.
“The coaches were watching Notre Dame chase some athletic receivers a lot, especially on the Miami side, and it seemed like Miami had a little more athleticism on their side against Notre Dame,” Yurachek said. “Then the fact that Miami's defense really stifled Notre Dame's running game like no other all season.”
Changes to this process will certainly occur. Miami ended up losing a five-way tiebreaker for a berth in the ACC title game, and the rules by which the league operates have since come under some criticism. If the tiebreaker had gone in Miami's favor, it's entirely possible that the Hurricanes would have played their way into the playoffs anyway and Notre Dame would have clinched a playoff berth anyway.
What's baffling to many is how Notre Dame could be ahead of Miami in every CFP ranking but end up behind the Hurricanes after a weekend in which neither team played. In short, the CFP committee said its lens is different when viewing the two clubs solely for one spot rather than as part of a larger group. This makes some sense, but it's still easy to understand why those who make a bad decision might find it somewhere between confusing and downright wrong.
As part of a memorandum of understanding signed last year to ensure there will be at least 12 teams in the field in 2026 and beyond, Notre Dame will be guaranteed a spot if it finishes in the top 12 starting next year.
In addition, under the deal was agreed in MarchCFP berths will be guaranteed for the conference champions from the ACC, Big Ten, SEC and Big 12, as well as the top-ranked Group 5 champion, sources told ESPN. If it were this season, the ACC champion Duke would become field champion and Sun Belt champion James Madisonthe second representative of Group 5 would have remained on the sidelines.
“It's hard work,” Cristobal said. “It's a tough industry, right? I mean, where else are there so many variables that impact the outcome of a game so much that they can send teams into a death spiral or push others to new heights? And you have human errors, and you have refereeing, and you have injuries and all that. There's so much going on in football that when you add a committee to make decisions, it's tough on everyone.”
If the CFP hadn't called, Miami likely would have settled for a spot in the Gator Bowl. For many players who would be looking at the 2026 NFL Draft, the cup would likely be a miss – and it could possibly mean the end of college careers for players like Carson Beck, Reuben Bane Jr.., Achim Mesidor, C.J. Daniels and much more. This is not a new concept in college football; Bowl games often soften when teams miss the CFP.
“One thing I know is that passion for college football is at an all-time high,” Cristobal said. “And what I'm most pleased about from a process standpoint is that we didn't compromise on winning on the field. Because with all the chaos in college football right now, all the uncertainty, college football has been thrown into another galaxy. Coaches have jobs, but they have to fly back to be able to coach their teams for the job at hand. With all that in mind, I'm glad we didn't punish the student-athletes who essentially put it all on the line – on the field.”
Heather Dinich and Andrea Adelson of The Associated Press and ESPN contributed to this report.
