College Football Playoff snubs, surprises: Miami earns bid, Ohio State ahead of Georgia

There were a few surprises as the CFP Selection Committee unveiled its final rankings on Sunday

By Shehan Jeyarajah

Dec 7, 2025 at 1:41 pm ET • 2 min read

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The 12-team College Football Playoff was supposed to limit the controversy and include more teams in the field. Instead, the expanded system has only created more anger as more fanbases feel snubbed.

The bubble of the 2025 field was extra complicated because almost any decision broke with prior precedents. There was the head-to-head issue, where a win by Miami over Notre Dame conflicted with their previous rankings. Last year, SMU was not knocked out of the field after losing a conference championship game; Alabama falling out of would have changed that.

But after the final reveal, there are some serious snubs and surprises. Here are a few coming out of the selection committee's final decisions.

Snubbed: Flipping Notre Dame and Miami

Heading into the final week of the regular season, Notre Dame rested comfortably multiple spots ahead of Miami, even outranking Alabama. Then, the Crimson Tide suddenly moved up a spot after a mediocre performance against 5-7 Auburn. And now, after not even playing on conference championship Saturday, the committee inexplicably decided to jump Miami two spots over Notre Dame.

Granted, Miami had a head-to-head victory over the Fighting Irish that they had previously ignored. To hear CFP chair Hunter Yurachek say it, the committee did not view these teams as being comparable. But despite no new information, the committee simply changed their minds with little explanation. Suddenly, the teams became comparable.

Now, Notre Dame will miss the College Football Playoff after dropping behind both Alabama and Miami despite winning games by a combined 119-27 over their final two weeks.

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Surprised: Ohio State over Georgia

The Buckeyes went into the Big Ten Championship Game as the undefeated No. 1 team in the country. From that standpoint, Ohio State didn't deserve too much blame for losing a tight 13-10 decision against No. 1 Indiana. Still, it's a little surprising that the committee did not credit Georgia more after its SEC Championship Game domination.

The Bulldogs came into Saturday at No. 3 and avenged their only loss after dominating Alabama 28-7. Outside of the early 24-21 loss against the Tide in September, Georgia has two wins over College Football Playoff teams, along with a more impressive common opponent victory over Texas. Their strength of schedule far outflanks Ohio State -- No. 15 vs. 30.

Granted, the only team that the committee punished for losing a conference title game this year was BYU. Flipping Ohio State and Indiana was as far as they were willing to go in the Big Ten.

Snubbed: Texas A&M's path

Texas A&M was 11-0 heading into the final week of the season before losing a rivalry game against No. 13 Texas. After the lone loss, the Aggies slipped four spots to No. 7, surprisingly dropping even behind an Ole Miss squad with a strength of schedule in the 40s.

Now, the slight rankings adjustment makes for a brutally harder path for the Aggies. Texas A&M hosts Miami in the first round of the College Football Playoff at Kyle Field instead of Tulane. Then, if they win, they get Ohio State in the second round. Georgia in the Sugar Bowl wouldn't have been an easy matchup, but the Buckeyes have been the most complete team in the country for most of the year.

And then, if they break through the quarters, it's that same Georgia team in the national semis. A Miami-Ohio State-Georgia pathway could be the most brutal on the board.