Nov 15, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman reacts after an Irish touchdown against the Pittsburgh Panthers during the second quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Notre Dame's ranking in the College Football Playoff continues to be a point of contention for fans and pundits alike.

The Fighting Irish, ranked No. 9 in Tuesday's CFP release, were the point of a fiery debate between sports personalities Stephen A. Smith, Chris "Mad Dog" Russo and Paul Finebaum on Tuesday, Nov. 19, during a segment of ESPN's "First Take."

Notre Dame was ranked five spots ahead of Miami, which also has two losses but defeated the Fighting Irish in Week 1. Notre Dame was also ranked ahead of Alabama, which has the same record as Notre Dame but has four ranked wins, including a road victory at Georgia.

CFP committee chair Hunter Yurachek said Notre Dame and Miami losses were compared against each other, although the head-to-head consideration hasn't come into play yet given they "haven't been in similar comparative pools to date."

Finebaum, who primarily covers the SEC, defended the conference and compared Notre Dame's schedule to the road of a typical SEC program. Shae Peppler Cornette, the host of "First Take" also called out SEC bias in the debate.

Here's the full debate between three of ESPN's top voices.

Paul Finebaum, Stephen A. Smith debate Notre Dame CFP ranking

Here's the full transcript between Finebaum, Russo and Smith on Wednesday, Nov. 19.

Finebaum: “Notre Dame always seems to get a break, and I hate to be that guy, ‘Oh there’s a Notre Dame bias,’ but it’s pretty obvious there is Notre Dame bias. It’s not only Alabama, look at Miami and try to figure out where they are ranked. And I remember on the first Sunday night of the college football season, Notre Dame went down to Miami, you know what happened?

"They lost. Shouldn’t that matter for something? But apparently in the eyes of this committee nothing seems to matter other than their own biases.”

Russo: “I don’t have a problem with Notre Dame being ranked over Alabama. They’re both going to make it. The difference between 9 and 10 to me is not that big a deal. Now Paul, before you go crazy on that Notre Dame-Miami game on Labor Day weekend, Miami lost to SMU and lost to NC State. I mean, come on. You lose those two games after you beat Notre Dame by a field goal, you are not going to be ranked above Notre Dame, who lost one game by a point to Texas A&M, who is third in the country.

"So I’m OK with Miami being lower than Notre Dame. I mean Miami isn’t going to make their conference championship game. So, I’m OK with the way the ranking is. I’m alright with Notre Dame, and Alabama is going to get in anyway if they beat Auburn, and they’re going to make it, so what difference is there between 9 and 10?”

Smith: “When you look at Notre Dame, you start out the season 0-2, you lose to Miami, albeit by a field goal. You lose to Texas A&M, now here’s what I would say to you: If you want to take into account the level of competition, Texas A&M comes back incredible, incredible comeback victory over South Carolina, no doubt. But damn, who the hell was that team in the first half that was down 30-3 to begin with, to South Carolina. So we can see how up and down, how a bit haphazard Texas A&M can be from time to time, which gives the impression that any given Saturday, they can be had.

"You gotta pay attention to that kind of stuff, too. And when Alabama loses the opener to Florida State, and then they go on the road, you beat Georgia, you beat Tennessee, you beat Missouri, you beat these teams, OK, and then all of a sudden you lose a nail-biter to Oklahoma and that puts you behind Notre Dame, whose biggest victories are against USC and Pittsburgh, I can get where Paul is coming from when you’re talking about why is Notre Dame placed ahead of Alabama. That makes sense to me, that’s a legitimate question.”

Smith then turned to Shae Peppler Cornette, the host of "First Take," and passionately asked if there's no bias for Notre Dame.

Peppler Cornette: “I’m not saying that, there’s also a little bias toward the SEC as well, is all I’m saying. Let’s call it as it is.”

Finebaum: “(Notre Dame) doesn’t have the grind the SEC has. And I think that’s where some of this SEC bias perception comes in. Come on down to the South and try to deal with the schedules and see what your record is and I guarantee it will be inferior to the SEC records.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: A Notre Dame bias? Paul Finebaum, Stephen A. Smith debate Irish CFP ranking

Reporting by Austin Curtright, USA TODAY NETWORK / USA TODAY

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