As it turned out, the most important game impacting the most important decision the College Football Playoff selection committee made in 2025 took place in August.
There is nothing particularly wrong with that. All the games are supposed to count.
And yet, it is no stretch to say that line of thinking would a) only make sense to people who don't watch pro sports, which don't use selection committees, and b) still not make sense to anyone who cheers for Notre Dame, who were told for weeks leading up to this that its Aug. 31 loss to Miami didn't mean anything.
Among the conclusions from Sunday's head-scratcher of a bracket release — which dropped Notre Dame by one spot and out of the playoff even though it didn't play last week — is that there is no reason to listen to anything the committee says over its five weeks of breathless Tuesday night updates doubling as programming that come out before the final bracket.
“Any rankings or show prior to this last one is an absolute joke and a waste of time,” Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua told Yahoo Sports. “Why put these young student-athletes through these false emotions just to pull the rug out from underneath them, having not played a game in two weeks, and then a group of people in a room shatter their dreams without explanation?”
Point made. Now, here are some other winners and losers from the weekend:
The Crimson Tide had the nation's sixth-toughest strength of schedule and also beat Georgia at Georgia in September. That is why they are in.
All the rest of it was noise, and that includes the ugly loss to those same Bulldogs in the SEC title game.
In that 28-7 loss, Alabama gained 82 yards through the first 44:50 of the game, and rushed for minus-3 yards, the first time Alabama didn't gain a yard on the ground since 1968. Making the field despite all of this doesn't speak highly of ...
It feels like a shame that on the week the sport mourns the death of groundbreaking SEC commissioner Roy Kramer, one of his most transformative inventions, the conference title game, is outliving its usefulness.
Duke won the Atlantic Coast Conference game, but hasn't been ranked since 2014 so it didn't make the playoff.
Alabama? Its loss didn't hurt the Tide, which stayed at No. 9, or help the Bulldogs, who stayed at No. 3.
Indiana beat Ohio State 13-10 in a Big Ten barnburner, which resulted only in those two flip-flopping the No. 1-2 spots and maybe building an appetite for a rematch that actually means something in the national final.
BYU's lopsided loss to Texas Tech in the Big 12 matchup hurt the Cougars and could be another argument to get rid of the games because, after all, why should some teams (BYU) be penalized for qualifying to play for a title while others (Alabama) are not?
One reason the committee used to justify snubbing Notre Dame was its 44th-ranked strength of schedule compared to Alabama at No. 6.
In related news, there is speculation about USC not wanting to renew the ancient home-and-home rivalry with Notre Dame because why should the Trojans commit to a hard road game every other year when the competition is lining up Group of Five teams for their nonconference schedule?
Maybe Notre Dame — clearly hurt this year by its scheduling agreement with the weaker-than-usual ACC, along with its baked-in rivalries with Navy, Stanford and USC — should consider dumping the Trojans and trying to pick up an Alabama or Ole Miss every now and then — they did host Texas A&M this season but hey — to beef up that SOS.
No. 11 Tulane and No. 12 James Madison won their conferences and did what they needed to do to make the field, so give credit to teams ranked 54 and 28, respectively, in the ESPN Football Power Index for that.
But here's the asterisk: football isn't basketball, the 12-team playoff isn't March Madness and the idea of Cinderella capturing everyone's fancy over a magical monthlong run in this sport still feels like a stretch. BetMGM Sportsbook opened Tulane as a 16 1/2-point underdog against Ole Miss and JMU as a 20 1/2-point dog against Oregon.
Last year, Boise State lost 31-14 in the first round and that was with star running back Ashton Jeanty. In 2023, TCU — yes, of the Big 12 but still saddled with the fairy tale role — lost to Georgia 65-7 in a four-team setup.
Upsets aren't unthinkable, and they are what make sports so much fun. But remember, if some in the SEC had their way, they would eliminate most or all the automatic berths to move closer to placing the country's 12 (or 16 or 24) “best” teams in the bracket.
That, of course, would place even more faith in the selection committee, which on Sunday proved once again that finding the perfect process can never be done.
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Georgia defensive back Daylen Everette (6) pressures Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson (15) during the second half of a Southeastern Conference championship NCAA college football game, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand launched airstrikes along the disputed border with Cambodia on Monday as both sides accused the other of breaking a ceasefire that halted fighting earlier this year.
Longstanding border disputes erupted into five days of combat in July that killed dozens of soldiers and civilians. U.S. President Donald Trump pushed the Southeast Asian neighbors to sign a truce agreement in October, but tensions have continued to simmer.
The Thai army said that more than 50,000 people have left areas near the border for shelters, while Cambodia's Information Minister Neth Pheaktra said that tens of thousands of residents had been displaced from several villages near the border.
The latest round of clashes has killed at least one Thai soldier and four Cambodian civilians, officials said.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said in a televised speech that military operations would be carried out as necessary to defend the country and protect public safety.
“Thailand has never wished for violence. I'd like to reiterate that Thailand has never initiated a fight or an invasion, but will never tolerate a violation of its sovereignty,” he said.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet wrote on Facebook that his government's immediate tasks were to protect the people and the country's sovereignty.
"I ask all ministries, institutions, authorities at all levels, all types of armed forces and all Cambodian citizens to unite for the cause of the nation and the homeland during this difficult period," he wrote.
The ceasefire was strained in early November after Thai troops were injured by land mines, leading Thailand to announce that it would indefinitely suspend implementation of the agreement. Both sides continue to trade accusations over responsibility, even as they are supposed to be cooperating in getting rid of the mines.
Trump said in mid-November that he’d intervened to preserve the ceasefire as tensions simmered between the two countries.
But another brief episode of fighting took place along the border Sunday, after which both sides said the other fired first. The Thai army said Cambodian fire injured two Thai soldiers and Thai troops retaliated, resulting in an exchange of fire that lasted around 20 minutes. Cambodia said that the Thai side fired first and that its own troops did not retaliate.
On Monday, Thai army spokesperson Maj. Gen. Winthai Suvaree said the Cambodian troops fired first into Thai territory in multiple areas. He said at least one Thai soldier was killed and about eight other soldiers were wounded. Thailand then used aircraft “to strike military targets in several areas to suppress Cambodian supporting fire attacks," he said.
The Thai army said artillery rounds landed near residential areas on the Thai side, but reported no civilian casualties so far.
Cambodian Defense Ministry spokesperson Maly Socheata said the Thai military attacked the Cambodian troops first on Monday, and that Cambodia did not retaliate during the initial attacks.
“Cambodia urges that Thailand immediately stop all hostile activities that threaten peace and stability in the region,” she said.
Neth Pheaktra, the Cambodian Minister of Information, said fire from Thai forces killed four Cambodian civilians and injured about nine others.
The prime minister of regional neighbor Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, called for restraint in a statement posted to social media and said that his country is ready to support efforts to avert further fighting.
“Our region cannot afford to see long-standing disputes slip into cycles of confrontation,” he wrote.
Thailand and Cambodia have a history of enmity going back centuries, when they were warring empires.
Their modern territorial claims stem largely from a 1907 map drawn when Cambodia was under French colonial rule, which Thailand has argued is inaccurate.
The International Court of Justice in 1962 awarded sovereignty to Cambodia over an area that included the 1,000-year-old Preah Vihear temple, which still rankles many Thais.
The ceasefire does not spell out a path to resolve the underlying basis of the dispute, the longstanding differences over where the border should run.
Sopheng Cheang reported from Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Associated Press writer Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia contributed to this report.
Thai residents who fled homes following clashes between Thai and Cambodian soldiers rest at an evacuation center in Buriram province, Thailand, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Sopa Saelee)
In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), Cambodian villagers, transported by motor cart and tractor, flee from their home in Preah Vihear province, Cambodia, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (AKP via AP)
In this photo released by Royal Thai Army, a wounded Thai soldier is carried to be transferred to a hospital in Sisaket province, Thailand, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, after, according to a Thai army spokesperson, Cambodian troops fired into Thai territory. (Royal Thai Army via AP)
FILE - The flags of Thailand, left, and Cambodia, right, are seen ahead of the ceremonial signing of a ceasefire agreement between Thailand and Cambodia on the sidelines of the 47th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025. (Mohd Rasfan/Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, right, and Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, left, react during a signing ceremony on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
