Many in the college football world were left stunned by Sunday's College Football Playoff selection process when Miami eked by Notre Dame for the final spot in the playoff field this winter. Miami coach Mario Cristobal, however, had faith in his team all along.

Cristobal was interviewed on ESPN shortly after the CFP committee's selection results were announced, and he offered his frank thoughts on being included in the playoff while Notre Dame was left out.

"Yeah I wasn't shocked," Cristobal said Sunday. "And I'll say this: I felt all along that we were presenting information while others were presenting a case or somehow just creating a narrative to try to take shots at the facts. So we weren't shocked, but we were glad that the criteria was abided by because at the end of the day, the truth always comes out."

Cristobal and Miami squeaked by Notre Dame due to their head-to-head result in the season-opener, according to the CFP selection committee, when the Hurricanes beat the Fighting Irish 27-24.

While head-to-head games are absolutely a fair and justifiable metric when it comes to picking one team or another for the playoff, college football pundits and fans alike still thought Notre Dame got the short end of the stick. The Fighting Irish finished 10-2, same as Miami, and didn't have a conference championship game to be judged by, but they have looked unstoppable since their Sept. 13 loss to Texas A&M and would have entered the playoff in prime form. Their résumé ended up looking quite similar to Miami’s by the season's end, and for a while it looked like Notre Dame would get the nod given that the weekly CFP rankings show continually had the Fighting Irish a peg above the Hurricanes.

But as fate would have it, Miami will be playing meaningful football this winter, while Notre Dame has already bowed out of their bowl game.

“Look at Miami, top to bottom, examine the metrics, examine the wins and losses and how they were played out," Cristobal told On3 earlier this month. "We trust that when all the facts are laid out and everything is set on the table, that head-to-head will come into play. That’s what this sport has always been founded on.

“When it comes down to things that are being compared, you always wish you had a head-to-head to evaluate. In this case, we do.”

No. 10 Miami will face their first playoff test on the road against No. 7 Texas A&M on Saturday, Dec. 20.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Mario Cristobal Had Blunt Message After Miami Edged Out Notre Dame for CFP Spot .

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