For yet another season, Miami’s playoff hopes are on a ventilator. The Hurricanes have wrapped up their schedule and are awaiting a miracle to book a spot in the playoffs. Just like last year, the CFP rankings have once again caused chaos in college football. Now, there’s only one way by which Miami can make its way to a deserved playoff spot.

Miami, before Week 15 begins, is still in contention for a playoff spot. But it is ranked at a dangerous No. 12 in the CFP rankings. Miami’s placement has been called out by many, as Notre Dame sits at No. 10. The only way Miami gets in is with an at-large bid, which will only come at the behest of other teams losing. 

“It will be fascinating if BYU were to lose, and then they decide to put Miami on top of Notre Dame,” Rece Davis said on the December 2 episode of ESPN College Football.

Notre Dame has made it into the safe zone, despite having lost to Miami in the season. In fact, this was one of the factors that was supposed to give Miami a one-up over Notre Dame. To get into the playoffs, Miami has to see BYU getting knocked out by Texas Tech in the Big 12 Championship game. With the Cougars out of the way, maybe the CFP can consider putting Miami above Notre Dame, despite both teams being 10-2.

The Hurricanes’ chances were further lessened because of the ACC’s own messy set of rules to break ties. Miami was in a 5-way tie, but lost to Duke because of conference opponent win percentage. The championship game now becomes one-sided because of Virginia. But had Miami been in Duke’s place, it would have been an on-par fight. 

“It’s really disingenuous to put this on the ACC and their tie breakers,” Davis said. “They were trying to be as objective as possible, and they ended up hurting themselves. Because they should have Miami and Virginia in the championship game, and then all of this would be a moot point. Perhaps they’ll reevaluate it.”

Miami needed to win over Pitt to continue fighting for a shot, which it did. Duke needed Pitt and SMU to lose and win the Wake Forest game. That one win is what put the Blue Devils through the tiebreaker and into the championship. 

Once a preseason favorite to move to the playoffs, the Hurricanes are helplessly looking on at those around them to get a break. Because there’s yet another hurdle Miami has to get past: Texas.

HC Mario Cristobal reminds Texas of brutal loss amid playoff seat drama

Mario Cristobal is ardently trying to make a case for Miami to get into the playoffs. But he also has to deal with a disgruntled Texas, which sits just below Miami in the rankings. The latter has a clear edge, being the team with the better record. Texas’ playoff hopes dipped when it lost to Georgia. However, Texas HC Steve Sarkisian thought Miami being ranked higher was unfair because of the late TD that came in the Pitt game.

“There’s teams that are ranked in front of us that haven’t played any top-10 ranked teams,” Sarkisian told SEC Network. “My point to everybody is, is this about what your record is at the end? Or is this about beating quality teams and showing how good of a team you really are by beating quality teams on the field?

“… Or, is it don’t play good teams, put up a bunch of yards, put up a bunch of points, and make it look good. You know, throw fade route touchdowns with 38 seconds to go when you’re ahead 31-7 so that score looks better.”

Mario Cristobal, armed with an important argument, fired back at the Texas HC.

“[They] also gotta take a look at the common opponent between us and that particular coach,” Cristobal told Canes In Sight. “Seeing that we had the opportunity to really dominate that opponent while that opponent dominated them.”

The common opponent here is Florida. Miami beat the Gators, but the latter ended up defeating Texas. The fight comes down to the game control metric here. Miami owned that game, winning 27-9, and is ranked No. 6 in the metric. Texas, which lost to Florida 29-21, is ranked No. 16.

Plus, Texas has clearly been the bigger disappointment overall, compared to Miami. Even though the AP poll doesn’t matter here, Miami was among the Top 5 in the country. However, a complicated loss to Duke in a tie will put Miami in the same boat as Texas. Miami can do nothing but rely on BYU’s loss for a shot to make it to the Top 10.