Josh Pate's College Football Show

Notre Dame–Miami carries playoff stakes into Week 10

The Locker Room - CFB Week 10 Picks: Josh Pate & Will Compton SPLIT On Miami vs. Notre Dame + Taylor Lewan HAMMERS LSU

The first playoff rankings have made every loss consequential, but Notre Dame–Miami stands out as the weekend’s clearest test of postseason survival.

3 key takeaways
  1. 1The first playoff rankings expose how losses, quality wins, and conference strength could reshape the field.
  2. 2Week 10 picks turn on pressure, turnovers, quarterback play, and home-field advantages across the major conferences.
  3. 3Notre Dame may need to beat Miami to preserve its playoff hopes, making the matchup uniquely consequential.

Don't miss

The panel’s final Notre Dame–Miami analysis frames the game as uniquely important to Notre Dame’s playoff survival.

The brief

Josh Pate, Will Compton, and Taylor Lewan react to the first playoff rankings, where Notre Dame, Alabama, Texas, and SEC strength expose competing standards for selection.

Their playoff map quickly becomes unstable: Miami, BYU, Utah, Texas Tech, Georgia, Alabama, and Big Ten contenders all depend on a weekend that could reorder the field.

The picks move from Tennessee–Kentucky and BYU–Utah to Georgia–Ole Miss and Alabama–LSU, weighing pressure, turnovers, quarterback play, defense, and rivalry stakes.

Notre Dame–Miami becomes the central argument, with the panel debating the spread, recent form, line play, and whether Notre Dame effectively needs a win.

Super Slate selections, underdog plays, and parlays close a discussion built around one premise: playoff positioning can change dramatically in a single Saturday.

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