Miami kept its playoff hopes alive Saturday with a hard-fought 34-17 road win over Virginia Tech. But the victory felt more like survival than salvation. The win improved Miami to 9-2 and 5-2 in the ACC, but their playoff positioning remains maddeningly uncertain. They’re ranked No. 13 in the CFP rankings despite having the same 9-2 record as No. 9 Notre Dame, a team Miami beat head-to-head back in Week 1. And nobody is more frustrated about this than Paul Finebaum.​​

Paul Finebaum has become an unlikely champion for the Hurricanes in their fight against what he sees as obvious CFP committee bias. “I wish the selection committee would actually consider that these two that Miami and Notre Dame, once met on the field like on the final Sunday night in August, but they have seemingly forgotten that,” Finebaum said on SportsCenter. 

“And I’m sure they’ll continue to forget that this week when they look at the two games and see that Miami only won by four touchdowns and Notre Dame won by 14 against Syracuse. That’s not the way we should be deciding teams. But again, I know I sound like a broken record, but this committee has really disappointed me on what should be one of the biggest tiebreakers, and that is head-to-head.” He had already taunted on ESPN’s Get Up earlier in the week, sarcastically suggesting the committee should just put Notre Dame in the playoff now and save everyone the trouble. 

The committee’s reasoning, as explained by Chairman Hunter Yurachek, is logical, too. Notre Dame has better losses than Miami. So their defeat to the Hurricanes doesn’t matter as much as Miami’s losses to Louisville and SMU. “Miami has lost to two unranked teams,” Yurachek said on ESPN. He was justifying why the committee values Notre Dame’s loss to undefeated Texas A&M more highly than Miami’s win over Notre Dame. 

The mental gymnastics are stunning. Miami being good enough to beat Notre Dame actually helps Notre Dame’s ranking because it makes their loss look better. “In other words, Miami being as good as it is and beating the Irish becomes a pivotal reason why Notre Dame is ranked higher than Miami. That’s some gold medal mental gymnastics,” Blake Toppmeyer wrote after Yurachek’s explanation. Yurachek also revealed the committee uses “pods” to group teams. And because Miami and Notre Dame are separated by four spots, they’re not in the same comparative pool yet. It means the head-to-head result isn’t being considered at all right now. “We really haven’t compared those two teams,” Yurachek admitted, which only added fuel to the fire.​

Miami has one final chance to force the committee’s hand when it faces Pittsburgh next week. Notre Dame demolished Pitt 37-15 last Saturday. So if Miami can beat the Panthers by more than three touchdowns, it would create a compelling closing argument for the Hurricanes to leapfrog the Irish. But even then, the committee seems unlikely to budge unless Miami can close the gap to one or two spots in Tuesday’s rankings. Only then would they enter the same “pod” and force a direct comparison where the head-to-head result might actually matter. 

Miami’s case for the committee

The case for Miami is pretty straightforward. They beat Notre Dame 27-24 in Week 1. They have the same record. And head-to-head should be the primary tiebreaker when everything else is relatively equal. 

Their losses to Louisville and SMU came by a combined seven points. And while those aren’t “quality losses” to ranked opponents, they’re not embarrassments either. Both teams are among the ACC’s better programs.

Miami also beat Syracuse 38-10 two weeks ago. Hopefully, they’ll also move past Pitt next week. The argument against Miami is that their defensive struggles and tendency to let games slip away late suggest they’re not as complete a team as Notre Dame. The Irish have looked dominant since that Week 1 loss, particularly on defense. And their blowout wins over Army and Syracuse in recent weeks show a team hitting its stride at the right time. 

CJ Carr has developed into a reliable quarterback, and Notre Dame’s backfield is considered the nation’s best. The committee clearly values “not losing badly” over “winning impressively,” which is why Notre Dame’s close loss to Texas A&M counts for more than Miami’s win over the Irish.​​