The College Football Playoff 12-team field has been released, and the Duke football program was left out in favor of James Madison and Tulane. Despite ending the regular season with an 8-5 overall record, the Blue Devils capped off the campaign with their first ACC Championship victory since 1989, taking down Virginia 27-20 in overtime. Now, with five losses, Duke never had a ton of hope to get into the field, but what the committee just did might mean that Duke accidentally just kept Notre Dame out of the CFP. There was tons of chatter throughout the back half of the regular season that if Duke won the ACC Championship, which it ultimately did, the ACC could be left out of the Playoff entirely. Well, that wasn't the case, but it wasn't the Blue Devils who were included in the field.
Miami was selected as the No. 10 seed, and it will face No. 7 seed Texas A&M. By far the biggest debate over the final hours before the field was set was centered around Miami, Notre Dame, and Alabama, three teams essentially fighting for two spots. After the Tide were beaten handily by Georgia in the SEC Championship, conversation opened up as to which of the three should make it. After it's all said and done, Alabama and Miami were included in the field, and Notre Dame was cast to the side, finishing as the first team out.
Duke football may have just cost Notre Dame a College Football Playoff berth
Now, the committee probably didn't want to include Duke in the field even after its ACC title win, but that would mean that the ACC as a whole would be left out of the CFP entirely if another squad wasn't given an at-large bid. Was the committee really going to leave an entire power conference out of the field? Miami does own a head-to-head victory over Notre Dame, winning 27-24 in late August, but the rankings spark some questions.
Interestingly, Notre Dame was ranked higher than the Canes in the last CFP Rankings before Sunday. The debate between the Fighting Irish and Hurricanes definitely could've been affected by the Blue Devils winning the ACC Championship on Saturday night. The committee elected to give the final two automatic bids for conference champions to Tulane and James Madison, even though JMU only played one game against a Power Four opponent, where it lost to Louisville 28-14.
The hearts of the Notre Dame players and staff are now crushed as the Irish end the 2025 campaign as the first team left out of the CFP, and Duke may have had a lot to do with Miami ultimately being selected over ND.