The Hurricanes’ head coach, Mario Cristobal, is making sure Miami’s argument will not fall on deaf ears as the CFP committee prepares its final rankings. During his appearance on CBS Sports HQ, Cristobal emphasized that Miami’s win over Notre Dame is the clearest metric available and should position the Hurricanes ahead when the last at-large spot is decided.

“I mean, at the end of the day, it’s two teams with the same record, common opponent, identical metrics, and we played the game, right?” said Cristobal during Friday’s appearance on CBS Sports HQ with Danny Kanell. “We won the game. We won the game, and when you take a deeper dive into all this stuff, it just continues to point out that we have the opportunity. Respectfully presenting our case to be the best and most deserving.”

Cristobal’s stance is simple: Miami and Notre Dame both sit at 10-2, but Miami owns the 27-24 victory from the season opener. In that game, the Hurricanes controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides and held Irish star running back Jeremiyah Love, now a Heisman contender, to just 33 rushing yards. For Cristobal, with the head-to-head win, the path forward should be obvious.

He also pointed to the common-opponent comparison. Both teams went 4–0 against NC State, Pitt, Syracuse, and Stanford. However, Miami posted wider scoring margins against every shared opponent except Syracuse, giving Cristobal another data point he feels has been overlooked.

So for Cristobal, Miami has shown enough; now it’s time the CFP rankings reflect the same. At the same time, Notre Dame AD Pete Bevacqua stepped in to make the case for why the Irish should remain ahead of Miami.

“I think with the exception of those two teams (Ohio State and Indiana) who are undefeated, we’re the hottest team in the country,” said Bevacqua during Friday’s appearance on the Pat McAfee Show. “I don’t think anybody’s playing better than Notre Dame.”

While the CFP Committee has already made its stance clear with Notre Dame sitting above Miami for five straight weeks, Bevacqua has doubled down on his take. He accepted Miami won head-to-head in the season opener, but he doesn’t believe teams should be graded midway through the season.

To him, that was Week 1, and the story since then tells a different tale. Notre Dame has ripped off 10 wins in its last 11 games, losing only to No. 7 Texas A&M, while Miami slipped twice against unranked teams. So while the Canes brag about that opener, Bevacqua’s point is that the season didn’t end in August.

“It was the first game of the season,” stated Bevacqua. “Nobody wins the race at the starting line. And I really think right now there’s not a team in the country playing better football than the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.”

While Notre Dame sits at No. 10 in the current CFP rankings and believes its season-long resume makes a strong playoff case, Cristobal’s No. 12 Miami squad continues to push the committee to focus on its head-to-head win over the Irish. Even ESPN’s FPI mirrors that positioning. But Cristobal hasn’t backed off yet.

Mario Cristobal’s message to the committee

Mario Cristobal has a clear message for the CFP committee. Although the Hurricanes wrapped up their regular season with a 38-7 road win over Pittsburgh. But with the ACC title out of reach after losing a multi-team tiebreaker to Duke, Miami’s fate now rests entirely in the hands of the CFP committee. Here, the Miami head coach isn’t leaving anything to risk.

“We have done what we are supposed to do, and on top of that — when it comes down to things that are being compared, you always wish that you had a head-to-head to evaluate, and in this case, we do, which we certainly feel strongly about,” said Cristobal on On3 Sports, referring to the season-opening win against Notre Dame.

While Cristobal’s point is the deciding factor is right there on the field: Miami 27, it’s up to the committee to decide if Miami finally gets the edge it believes it has earned.

Top Stories

Bills Legend Jim Kelly Announces Final Cancer Update After Years of Battle

Dak Prescott Faces NFL Discipline After Doubling Down on Referees Over Cowboys Penalties

Are LeBron James, Luka Doncic Playing Tonight? Lakers vs. Celtics Full Injury Report (Dec. 5)

Brian Schottenheimer Blames Locker Room for Loss After Pointing Fingers at Cowboys QB

NASCAR Trapped in $61M Financial Nightmare as Steve O’Donnell Admits Stripping Team Power to Force Mexico Agenda

Who Is Matthew Campbell’s Wife Erica? All About Iowa State HC’s Sixth Grade Sweetheart