National outlet breathes hope into Miami Hurricanes’ playoff hopes with prediction ahead of initial rankings release
The Miami Hurricanes are on shaky ground as far as the College Football Playoff picture goes after suffering a 26-20 overtime loss at SMU on Saturday, dropping the Canes to 6-2 (2-2) on the season. Miami dropped to 18 in the AP Poll, which seemed like a logical playoff spot as well for the suddenly […]
The Miami Hurricanes are on shaky ground as far as the College Football Playoff picture goes after suffering a 26-20 overtime loss at SMU on Saturday, dropping the Canes to 6-2 (2-2) on the season.
Miami dropped to 18 in the AP Poll, which seemed like a logical playoff spot as well for the suddenly reeling Canes, who’ve dropped two of their last three games.
However, one outlet sees a brighter outlook from the playoff selection committee when the rankings are released on Tuesday night. CBS Sports’ Brad Crawford has Miami at 11 in his latest playoff projection.
CBS Sports has Maimi Hurricanes 11th in latest playoff projection
This is what Crawford had to say about Miami:
“The last team in according to this projection if Tuesday night’s rankings mirror our thoughts, Miami is the toughest team to grade in terms of where it will be placed this week. The Hurricanes are relying on early-season success to stake their claim as a contender considering what’s transpired in recent weeks. Losses to Louisville and SMU should be critically-damaging, but we’ll need to see how the committee views Miami’s recent swoon before determining that.” – Via Brad Crawford, CBS Sports
Crawford’s projection relies on having two teams that Miami defeated in his top 25 – Notre Dame and USF. The Irish, who Crawford has at 12, have ripped off six straight wins since losing back-to-back games to Miami and Texas A&M to open the season, but just one of their wins – vs. USC – is anywhere close to the top 25.
So, while Notre Dame has momentum and Miami is going in the opposite direction, how the committee handles both teams is going to be one of the most interesting aspects of Tuesday’s reveal. They’ve shown historically that they value head-to-head results strongly, so if Miami is up near the cut line tonight and Notre Dame is close, it’s reasonable to believe the Hurricanes could be ahead of them.
We’ll find out soon enough how far the Canes have to go to try to get back into the projected playoff field with four games to go.
College Football
National outlets predict Miami Hurricanes to earn a bid for a bowl they have never played in before in latest projections
Miami could be headed west after their playoff hopes were severely crippled on Saturday.
