In the 2025 season, Notre Dame and head coach Marcus Freeman left doubt. They lost to Miami and Texas A&M, and that was enough to miss the College Football Playoff.
This season, Freeman and the Irish didn't want to make that same mistake. However, having already taken a loss to BYU, it looked like they had their backs against the wall. After all, the first CFP rankings had them at No. 11, a borderline team. With Miami coming to South Bend, they couldn't afford a loss on Saturday.
By the end of the game, Notre Dame had made a massive statement, with a win over the No. 1 team in the country. Now, it looks like the Irish are comfortably in the field, pending any upset losses in the next few weeks.
There is no doubt that the CFP Selection Committee Rankings are going to be completely different next week after this win for Notre Dame. It seems like the Irish should be in the driver's seat. However, Marcus Freeman knows that being in the driver's seat isn't a guarantee.
"It really doesn't matter what we're ranked," Marcus Freeman said . "We learned that last year. It doesn't matter where you're ranked until the last week – and that's the truth."
A season ago, Notre Dame seemed to be in the driver's seat. They were ranked highly enough to be in the field. That is, until the final rankings. That's when Miami finally jumped the Irish, the first time the committee seemed to care about their head-to-head result.
It was a process that led to some very big emotions from Notre Dame and its fans. Still, the lesson was clear for the Irish. They can't afford to give the committee an excuse to leave them on the outside looking in. Their strength of schedule could potentially become that excuse.
Following the game, Freeman took a moment to take the win in from the podium. There, he was grateful. He also wanted to make it clear that he wasn't taking the win for granted.
"A special moment for them," Freeman said . "I'm so happy for our players because they put a lot of work in to achieve this. They're a dang good football team, and they beat a dang good football team."
It's hard to say the win on Saturday was bigger than the CFP run that Freeman led Notre Dame on. That saw the Irish win their first New Year's Six/Playoff bowls since the 1994 Cotton Bowl. However, as far as regular season games go, it was probably the most important of Freeman's career.
Miami, at No. 1 in the country, was the highest-ranked team Freeman ever beat in the regular season. Prior to that, the highest-ranked win for Freeman was No. 4 Clemson in 2022. There are a few other ranked wins sprinkled in the regular season, but Saturday night was unique.
This is special," Freeman said . "I'm not gonna sit here and say, Ah, this is like the other ones. No, this is different."
From here, Notre Dame wraps up its regular season in three games it will be a major favorite in. That includes Boston College next week, before wrapping up with SMU and Syracuse.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
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