Miami vs. Notre Dame live updates: Follow latest from today’s College Football Week 1 game

It seems like we have waited for years by this point for Miami to announce its return in earnest to the elite tier of college football.

We’re still waiting.

The arrival of Mario Cristobal and the NIL/transfer portal era have allowed the deep-pocketed Hurricanes to spend big for top talent. In some ways, it’s paid off, such as Cam Ward’s star turn in South Beach last year that made him the No. 1 overall pick in April’s NFL Draft. But Miami as a team under Cristobal has usually been less than, not greater than, the sum of its premium parts.

On the flip side is a Notre Dame program that appears stronger and more cohesive than maybe any other point during the 21st century. Marcus Freeman has lost talent, but he’s also shown a knack for reloading in the transfer portal and, more importantly, building from within. His Irish have also already broken through by knocking out Georgia and Penn State in last season’s playoff and giving Ohio State a run for its money in the national championship game.

Freeman’s teams have the track record of getting the job done — or, at the very least, not beating themselves — in marquee matchups where the opposing talent is equal to or greater than theirs. Cristobal, dating back to his days at Oregon, has the opposite reputation. Neither will change tonight. … Notre Dame 24, Miami 10