Miami's impressive season allowed them to compete in the College Football Playoff for most of the season.
But they're currently on the back foot after Tuesday's league table and standings announcement, in which the Hurricanes became the first team eliminated in a blowout loss to Syracuse.
The news didn't seem to sit well with Miami athletic director Dan Radakovich, who seemed appalled after seeing the latest playoff photos.
What particularly stood out to him was that Miami, the No. 12 ranked team but the last to lose, was worse than the three-loss Alabama, which was ranked No. 11 in the first place.
No. 15 Arizona State would theoretically earn the No. 12 spot as an automatic Big 12 qualifier if it won its conference championship game.
“Really??….The reason Bama topped Miami in the last slot is that Miami is 1-2 in their last three games (highest-ranked Syracuse, who led UGA to 8OT, and GT “Bama was 2-1 (5-7 against Auburn, defeated by OU, defeated FCS Mercer),” he wrote on X.
In what could be a crushing blow for Miami, it was a 42-38 road loss to No. 22 Syracuse over the weekend, which will likely knock Miami out of the 12-team playoffs.
This came as Miami was coming off its first 10-win season since 2017 and seemed all but set for a postseason berth.
Now, according to the CFP selection committee chairman, there's not much left for Miami to do.
“For teams that aren’t currently playing, we don’t have a data point to reposition those teams in the standings, so that’s set in terms of how they’re going to go into the final week of Championship Week. ” said Mr. Warde Manuel, CFP Selection Committee Chair. spoke on ESPN. “Nothing will change if we value them differently than we do now.
“Teams that are not playing cannot adjust their position relative to other teams that are not playing, but the championship [game] The team will evaluate that data point and decide if any moves are needed based on how the game performs. ”
Like Radakovich, ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips said in a statement Tuesday that he does not agree with Miami being excluded from the expansion playoffs.
Phillips was happy to see SMU ranked No. 8, but he didn't like the Hurricanes being outside the bracket.
“Miami has more wins and losses than the team before it, with dominant wins against SEC teams on the rise, including a late-season win over No. 13 Ole Miss,” Phillips said in a statement. mentioned in. “Furthermore, Miami, which has two losses by a combined nine points against a top-ranked Syracuse team and Georgia Tech, which just defeated No. 5 Georgia State in eight overtimes, received more from the committee. It definitely deserves good reviews.
“Looking ahead to the final rankings, we hope the committee reconsiders and grants a deserving Miami a spot. Clemson and SMU can win the ACC Championship and have the opportunity to represent the conference in the CFP. I’m still looking forward to this weekend!”
