Notre Dame head coach makes diplomatic national championship pick

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Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman knows how not to upset a future opponent.

Freeman, asked to join ESPN's College GameDay pre-game show ahead of the college football national championship game between Miami (FL) and Indiana, was tasked with picking the winner of the contest. GameDay traditionally ends with hosts and guests making a pick.

Freeman started out by saying as a resident of the state of Indiana, he was leaning that way, but then he stopped and reminded the audience that Miami will be visiting South Bend in November. Freeman smiled as he said he didn't want to give the Hurricanes bulletin board material — and he pointed out that he had used pundits picking against Notre Dame as a motivating factor for the Fighting Irish.

He then finished by saying his heart picked Indiana but his head was going for Miami.

This then led to a joking exchange in which retired Alabama coach Nick Saban told Freeman he didn't need to pick either team, and Freeman objected, saying host Pat McAfee said he had to.

The current Notre Dame coach also shouted out former Fighting Irish center Pat Coogan, who is now playing for the Hoosiers.

Freeman did his best to walk a diplomatic line — and we'll see if Miami even remembers this in November.

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This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman chooses his champion on GameDay

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