It’s that time of the year again. The annual heartbreak parade of teams getting snubbed from the College Football Playoffs. This year, Mario Cristobal’s Miami Hurricanes look like the unlucky headliners. However, former Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer has a warning for the committee if Miami gets tossed.

“I think the committee’s gotta go away, Meyer warned the committee of the worst possible outcome on the December 1 episode of the CFB ON FOX podcast. “How are they coming up with who’s going to be in the playoffs? I’m a big believer in the 442211 that was presented earlier. The committee goes away, the conferences take care of it.”

Meyer says there’s “certainly a fight for Miami to get in there.” Especially, after Cristobal’s boys flattened the Pittsburgh Panthers 38-7. Unfortunately, the betting world isn’t buying the happy ending. When the CFP drops its penultimate list, and Miami shows up two or three rungs under Notre Dame, their playoff hopes will basically evaporate. 

Miami might be 10-2 and sitting at No. 12, but FanDuel still has its playoff hopes at a shaky +650. For Meyer, the thought of the Hurricanes getting snubbed is enough reason to blow up the entire selection committee.

The podcast host Colin Cowherd agreed that the committee’s shelf life has expired. The problem is, people in power rarely ever take themselves off the stage. Meyer and Cowherd are clearly coming from the same place as they sound the alarm. 

History is loaded with examples. Whether it was the Baylor Bears in 2014, the UCF Knights in 2017, or the Florida State Seminoles last year, the committee has never been shy about shifting the criteria on the fly.

The Hurricanes toppled the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in their matchup, but in the CFP standings, it’s Notre Dame that stays comfortably in front. This did not sit well with Miami’s athletic director, Dan Radakovich.

“I served on the CFP committee for four years, so I know firsthand what a difficult job it is, Radakovich wrote. Remember those two loss teams I mentioned? We beat one of them. It was an electric night at Hard Rock Stadium when Miami defeated Notre Dame to kickstart this terrific season. Moments like that are what makes college football such a compelling sport. Let’s ensure those moments matter.”

Notre Dame started at No. 10 and Miami at No. 18 in the opening playoff list, fair enough at the time, given Miami’s skid. But now? Both are two-loss squads with comparable résumés, yet the Irish stay at No. 9 while the Hurricanes sit at 12, even after beating them. Cristobal has a strong and clear message in this situation.

Miami Hurricanes head coach blocks out the noise

The Miami head coach stands like a brick wall, shutting down negativity. “This is a College Football Playoff team, Cristobal pumped the much-needed confidence at the moment. A team that had great players in all phases, and we’re playing great football in all phases. Head-to-head is always the number one criteria.”

Danny Kanell is also Team Hurricanes. “I would probably pick Miami, Kanell said on the Grant Speaks podcast. I saw it already happen once.”

Under the scorching Hard Rock lights, No. 10 Miami handed Notre Dame a 27-24 opening-night sting. The committee keeps dragging Miami for those two unranked blemishes, but rolls out the red carpet for Notre Dame’s losses to Miami and Texas A&M.

The Hurricanes entered Week 14 with a 5-2 ACC record and odds so tiny they needed a microscope, 0.01% to crack the title game. Beating Pittsburgh helped, but they’re still shopping for favors from the football gods.

They need the stars and a few ACC rivals to fall in line. Losses from Virginia Cavaliers, Duke Blue Devils, and SMU Mustangs, plus an NC State win over UNC to unlock the tiebreaker magic. Without committee love or a little cosmic luck, this season’s highlight reel might fade into nothing.

Freshman phenom Malachi Toney blew past a Miami Hurricanes record that had been locked down by Ahmmon Richards since 2016. He wrapped the regular season with 970 yards, seven scores, and a wild 84 grabs. And against Pittsburgh? He went full beast mode- 126 yards, a receiving touchdown. Time to find out if Urban Meyer’s warning was smoke, or if Miami’s about to get burned by it.