The Case for the Hurricanes: Miami’s path to the CFP

The Miami Hurricanes have had an interesting season to say the least.

After huge wins against Notre Dame to start their season and two ranked wins against South Florida and Florida State, Miami was looking like the team to beat in the country.

Miami was ranked as high as No. 2 in the country behind the leadership and Heisman-level play of quarterback Carson Beck, who transferred from Georgia before the start of the season.

Everything was looking great for the Hurricanes, up until their game against Louisville, where they lost 24-21 at home. Two weeks later, they’d fall to SMU 26-20.

Two losses against unranked opponents don’t look good on a resume. However, the CFP is all about the strength of the opponent.

Neither Louisville nor SMU is a bad team by any means. Both teams finished 8-4 and SMU was in contention for an ACC championship spot up until their loss to California.

Miami has four top-25 wins under its belt, with its most recent victory coming against No. 22 Pittsburgh in the Steel City. They dominantly won that game, winning 38-7.

Miami won the three games before their matchup against Pittsburgh. In those four victories, Miami had a point differential of +110 and an average margin of victory of 27.5 points. They aren’t just winning, they’re winning and leaving no doubt.

Now, Miami does have some competition that the CFP committee will have to compare it to. Such as Texas, which is coming off a huge win against Texas A&M. But they're a 3-loss team, so Miami should have the slight edge there.

Miami will need a lot of help, however, to have its resume outshine other competitors. Their best odds of getting in are BYU and Alabama both losing their respective conference championships. Realistically, they’d need Alabama to lose big to Georgia.

The CFP extension was designed to have the best teams in the country compete for national glory. Miami has proven it can compete with the best of the best in the country.

If the goal of the committee is to crown the best possible winner, Miami deserves to have a shot at the National Championship.

Owen Buchholz is a first-year majoring in Broadcast Journalism. To contact him, please email obb5166@psu.edu.