The 2025 College Football Playoff is underway, concluding its first-round games on Saturday night. Following Friday’s matchup of No. 8 vs. No. 9 seeds, Saturday’s three-game winning streak capped the tournament and set the stage for a quarterfinal matchup against the top four teams that all had byes. It took a full day from start to finish, although after a 7-on-10 stretch the drama gave way to a blowout that was to be expected and put the Sixers’ future playoff berth in doubt. Here are three takeaways from Game Day in the 2025 College Football Playoff Quarterfinals:
1. Notre Dame must throw the TV across the room
The noon game saw the Miami Hurricanes, the last team on the field, take on the Texas A&M Aggies. Both teams were the only teams to beat Notre Dame during the regular season, so it was fitting that they were playing each other after the Irish complained about being left out, and it was also fitting that the game was so poor for both teams.
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The Hurricanes missed three field goals, the Aggies turned the ball over three times, a 22-yard block in the second quarter, and enough other turnovers to give Miami a 10-3 “win” at the end of the game when both teams should have lost and been sent home. Notre Dame is going to be crazy watching these teams try to get it together, but as much as they think they deserve to be in the playoffs, think about it: These are the two circus teams they lost to, so I don’t know how good their resumes really are.
2. Aggies lose badly at home, end season poorly
Texas A&M enters Thanksgiving week with an 11-0 record, sole possession of first place in the SEC and third nationally. Not only are they playing in their first CFP game, but they’re also playing in their first SEC Championship Game. However, after Friday night, they were defeated by their archrival in Austin and eliminated from the SEC field via a tiebreaker.
Still, their 11-1 record was good enough to host the CFP first round, and the crowd at Kyle Field had the ACC’s only qualifier fearing and trembling in front of Aggie Nation.
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Well, A&M better be scared and trembling in front of Aggie Nation because they brought out one of the worst players in postseason history. Even James Madison and Tulane outscored the Aggies despite limiting their opponents to just one point, watching them not give up a single point, not two, but three field goal and they lost 10-3 in front of 104,122 fans.
Three points! ! This is why Hugh Freeze was fired against Kentucky at Auburn! An 11-0 start that ended badly.
3. Green Wave and JMU Playing well, but in the wrong category
Will the Six continue to receive an automatic bid to the CFP for the conference title? Should they? It’s painful to think about taking that away, but it’s also painful to look at Saturday’s schedule and see two games where there will be absolutely no drama. They played well but never really threatened the win.
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The best 12 teams don’t advance to the 12-team playoffs with automatic bids, and while that’s part of what makes the NCAA tournament great, it doesn’t seem to work for college football two years after expansion.
Maybe when these six teams can do what UCF and Cincinnati did when they were undefeated a few years ago, they can come in and have a real chance at winning (and then, like UCF and Cincinnati, get promoted to the majors in the next round of conference realignment!).
