No. 4 Notre Dame had Saturday night's game against No. 1 Miami circled on its calendar for a year, and it was well worth the wait.
Beaten by the Hurricanes in the 2025 opener and edged out by them for the last College Football Playoff bid, Notre Dame had plenty of motivation. Add to the mix their No. 11 ranking in the initial CFP rankings, and the Fighting Irish were in a near must-win situation to keep their 2026 playoff hopes alive.
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They're alive and well after a 31-24 victory that will knock Miami out of the top spot in The Associated Press Top 25 on Sunday and put a new team atop the CFP rankings Tuesday.
Notre Dame's CJ Carr outplayed Darian Mensah in a matchup of Heisman Trophy candidates, throwing for 319 yards and three touchdowns. Mensah, playing without injured star receiver Malachi Toney, threw for 276 yards and three TDs.
For all the stars on the field, it was a former walk-on from Cody, Wyoming, Luke Talich, who made the biggest defensive plays. Talich's interception late in the third quarter led to a touchdown that put the Irish up 31-17, and he knocked the ball out of Elija Lofton's hands as he was pulling in what would have been a tying touchdown catch with under four minutes left.
No. 2 Georgia (No. 2 CFP) broke out to a big lead early and went on to win 42-7 over No. 12 Mississippi (No. 10 CFP). The Bulldogs have bounced back from their loss to unranked Auburn three weeks ago with two convincing victories. Members of the AP voting panel and CFP selection committee now must decide between the Bulldogs and Notre Dame for No. 1.
The Bulldogs looked like the most complete team in the country. Gunner Stockton threw for four touchdowns and ran for a fifth, the ground game generated 295 yards, and the Bulldogs allowed 252 yards and sacked Trinidad Chambliss five times.
No. 16 Tennessee (No. 13 CFP) rolled past No. 8 Kentucky (No. 6 CFP) 34-6 for its sixth straight win over the Wildcats. The Volunteers have two top-10 wins in their last three games and will be in line for a promotion in both sets of rankings after holding the Wildcats without a touchdown.
Kentucky's only other loss was to Alabama and it has two top-10 wins. If the Wildcats drop below No. 11 in the CFP rankings, they'll likely need help to get into the bracket with games remaining against Florida, Missouri and Louisville.
Ohio State was the first team off the bracket in the initial CFP rankings but had ample opportunity to play its way in. Instead, the Buckeyes played their way out — probably permanently — with the 41-28 beatdown Oregon put on them at home.
The loss was so devastating that it left them with no viable path to the playoff unless they make an improbable run to the Big Ten championship game and win it.
Ohio State and Oregon have failed to meet expectations after coming into the season ranked No. 1 and 2, respectively, in the AP poll. Both have three losses now; the Ducks have the tiebreaker over Ohio State in the Big Ten race.
Down 14-3 early, Oregon scored 35 straight points after grabbing momentum with a fake punt that went for 30 yards.
Ohio State won five straight after its loss to Texas but dropped from No. 2 to No. 11 in the AP poll after it lost at Southern California last week. The Buckeyes opened at No. 12 in the CFP rankings and now can expect to take big falls in both rankings.
With freshman Luke Fahey stepping in at quarterback for the injured Julian Sayin, they've lost back-to-back regular-season games for the first time since 2011 and consecutive games against unranked opponents for the first time since 1992.
The Big Ten would only have two teams safely in the playoff as of now: Indiana and UCLA.
Two-loss Alabama was in prove-it mode when the CFP selection committee ranked the Crimson Tide at No. 5. Tennessee, with a win over Alabama, was ranked eight spots lower.
The Crimson Tide improved to 7-0 against Lane Kiffin-coached teams with their 31-13 victory over LSU.
LSU was the final ranked opponent for Alabama, which finishes with a visit to Vanderbilt and home games against Chattanooga of the Football Championship Subdivision and the Iron Bowl against Auburn.
LSU’s playoff hopes dimmed and are nearly gone. The Tigers must win out and get lots of help, and even that might not be enough. They finish the regular season against Texas at home and play Tennessee and Arkansas on the road.
Earlier in the day, Utah and UCLA turned back challenges to stay unbeaten and Texas won its third straight game to keep its playoff hopes alive for another week.
Utah, No. 3 in both the AP and CFP rankings, held off No. 7 BYU (No. 9 CFP) 28-20 for its second Top 25 win in three weeks. The Utes can get another next week at No. 24 Arizona.
No. 5 UCLA (No. 8 CFP) was in a tie game at Minnesota until pulling away in the fourth quarter for a 34-20 win.
No. 7 Texas (No. 10 CFP) was tied with No. 19 Missouri deep into the fourth quarter before pulling away for a 34-20 road victory.
The Utes earned their highest-ranked win since they knocked off No. 4 Southern California in the 2022 Pac-12 Conference championship game.
BYU handed Notre Dame its only loss but is paying a heavy price for a bad loss at UCF. The Cougars have no more ranked opponents on their schedule.
UCLA improved to 9-0 for the first time since 1998 with its hard-earned win at Minnesota. Ty Dieffenbach, making his first road start in place of the injured Nico Iamaleava, threw 75-yard touchdown passes to Aidan Mizell on consecutive possessions in the fourth quarter to break open a close game.
The Bruins will have a challenging finish to the regular season against Illinois, Michigan and No. 18 Southern California.
Texas is 4-0 against ranked opponents and will play another next week at LSU. Missouri has three losses and its playoff hopes are on life support, though a road win over Georgia and home wins over Kentucky and Oklahoma could get the Tigers back in the mix.
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