Winners and losers from first round of College Football Playoff: Miami, Texas A&M bury Notre Dame

The first round of the College Football Playoff was equal parts great and terrible. On the one hand, two games were still in the balance in the final minutes. On the other hand, two games were completely out of hand by the middle of the second quarter. In the literal sense, Alabama, Miami, Ole Miss and Oregon were the winners while Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Tulane and James Madison were the losers.

At the same time, coaches on hot seats of varying degrees like Kalen DeBoer and Mario Cristobal got a reprieve. Teams on fraud watch all season like Oklahoma and Texas A&M gave their haters ammunition. And players gave fans a reason to fall in or out of love with them. So who were the spiritual winners and losers? That’s what we’re here to discuss.

Winners from the first round of the College Football Playoff

Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer

Filling the shoes of the greatest college football coach of all-time was always an impossible task, but that wasn’t stopping Alabama fans from lighting a bonfire under Kalen DeBoer’s seat. Nine-win seasons don’t fly in Tuscaloosa, even if you make the playoff. They expect to see you win and nothing less.

So the difference in narrative between DeBoer with a playoff win under his belt and DeBoer with a first round exit is massive. It looked really, really bad for the head coach early as his team carried over the hangover from the SEC title game. The mental fortitude from coaches and players to overturn a 17-point deficit in such a big game cannot be understated. This was the victory DeBoer desperately needed.

Miami head coach Mario Cristobal

His team may have won in the ugliest fashion we’ve ever seen in the playoff era, but Mario Cristobal still won.

Remember, the head coach has been in Miami for four years and until Saturday, he had basically nothing to show for it. Manny Diaz, the coach who was run out of town before him, won an ACC title before him. He had just one ranked finish in three seasons with no bowl wins.

Simply making the playoff this year was a big step for him, but doubts have lingered over his ability to win when it mattered. In a spot when many would have expected Miami to crap the bed, they rose to the occasion instead.

Miami RB Mark Fletcher Jr.

Only one player on the field in College Station truly impressed and that was Miami running back Mark Fletcher, who rushed for 172 yards while averaging 10.1 yards per carry. But let’s zoom in a bit because Texas A&M’s final drive was literally all about Fletcher.

• 1st & 10: Fletcher 56-yard gain
• 1st & 10: Fletcher 2-yard gain
• 2nd & 8: Fletcher 12-yard gain
• 1st & 10: Fletcher 3-yard gain
• 2nd & 7: Fletcher 2-yard gain
• 3rd & 5: Beck to Toney 11-yard TD pass

That’s six plays for 86 yards and 75 of them came from the senior RB, whose first words after the game were to highlight the offensive linemen, wide receivers and tight ends who blocked for him.

The Lane Kiffen-less Ole Miss Rebels

What Ole Miss does in the quarterfinals against Georgia will matter much more than a blowout win over Tulane. Still, Trinidad Chambliss and company got over the first major hurdle of their post-Lane Kiffin era. The possibility of the Rebels no-showing without their head coach loomed large over this game. That possibility evaporated when Ole Miss scored on the third play of the game. All three plays went for 20 or more yards.

Head coach Pete Golding notched his first victory, avoiding a first-game flop. Now, the Rebels can focus on what’s in front of them instead of getting asked about the person who left them behind. No Lane Kiffin, no problem for Ole Miss.

Losers from the first round of the College Football Playoff

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

For about 20 minutes on Friday night, Notre Dame fans got to run their mouths as Oklahoma dominated Alabama en route to a 17-0 lead. “See, we should have gotten in over Bama,” they crowed. And the Crimson Tide responded, “You sure about that? You sure about thaaat? You suuuure about that?” Alabama went onto to score 27-unanswered points to beat the Sooners on their own turf. They sure looked worthy of a playoff bid by the end.

Saturday morning only brought more pain. Because the Crimson Tide were the first team to win a road playoff game — Miami became the second. Granted, the Hurricanes and Texas A&M Aggies made fans wait until the second half to see the first points of the game. The first and only touchdown scored came with 1:44 remaining in the game. It was an ugly game but also an unwelcome reminder for the Fighting Irish. They lost to both of those teams! Any sympathy ND had for being left out was already smothered by their arrogance over the Pop-Tarts Bowl. This was a bucket of water on whatever embers remained.

Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed

Marcel Reed has talent, I’m not denying that, but it’s time to start talking about him not as the bright, young prospect he was but as the 21-year-old with two years of starting experience under his belt that he is.

Against Miami, he threw two interceptions, the second of which ended the game. It was the third time in his last five games he’s hit that mark. He also lost a fumble and took seven sacks. Reed was simply not good enough to lead A&M to victory.

There was a certain predictability to this. Reed came into the CFP with the most INTs of any quarterback in the field. His offensive grade on PFF was second worse only to John Matter, who played most of the year with a broken hand.

Anyone who discusses him as a Heisman Trophy candidate going into 2026 needs to look back at this tape first.

The Group of Five

Siiiiiiiiigh. Another year, this time two Group of Five teams got to experience the humiliation ritual of the College Football Playoff. It’s not Tulane or James Madison’s fault they got put into the field of 12. The ACC’s failure to produce a higher ranked champion did that. Still, Tulane’s 41-10 rout at the hands of Ole Miss and JMU’s 51-34 trashing by Oregon turned into an infomercial by ESPN for why the G5 doesn’t deserve playoff representation.

Yeah, the G5 is outmatched. That’s because FBS makes no sense. Why are there 136 teams vying for the same crown? Of course, Tulane and JMU can’t hang with Oregon and Ole Miss. The latter two are spending easily twice as much on their football programs. If ESPN spent half as much time lobbying for FBS to split into Power Four and Group of Five as they do complaining about G5 playoff appearances, maybe something rational could get done in this sport.

I don’t want the G5 blocked from the playoff because the haves and have-nots in football will only grow further apart. But it’s undeniable that these blowouts aren’t in the best interest of the sport. And in the end, the Group of Five is going to pay the price for that.

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