1 hour ago
1
College football playoff seedings are heating up and the committee is making its positions clear.
The committee ranked Notre Dame ninth, ahead of No. 13 Miami — which beat the Fighting Irish earlier this year.
“I think when you look at Notre Dame and Miami, we really compare the losses of those two teams,” Hunter Yurachek, the College Football Playoff Selection Committee Chair, said on ESPN.
“Miami has lost to two unranked teams. Notre Dame has lost to two teams that are ranked in our top 13.”
Notre Dame lost, 27-24, to Miami on the road on Aug. 31 in a nail-biting season-opening game for both teams, but the selection committee apparently doesn’t look at the head-to-head record when ranking teams in tight windows.
Adding to the confusion is that both teams are 8-2, with the Hurricanes having three wins over top-25 teams compared to Notre Dame’s two.
Miami is hurt by losses to unranked Louisville and SMU, compared to Notre Dame’s only other loss being to No. 3 Texas A&M, but the Hurricanes arguably have better wins than the Fighting Irish.
With the top 12 teams qualifying for the CFP, Miami would be on the outside looking in for a playoff spot if it doesn’t get some help or win the ACC Championship game later this season.
Four one-loss teams — Georgia Tech, Virginia, Pittsburgh and SMU — are ahead of the Hurricanes in the ACC.
Don’t count on a Notre Dame loss anytime soon to help Miami, as the Fighting Irish are massive favorites against depleted Syracuse and will face Stanford at the end of November to finish their regular season.
Alabama (10), BYU (11) and Utah (12) sit between Notre Dame and Miami.
The Crimson Tide also have two losses, with a bad setback to open the season against a Florida State team that has since struggled and a defeat this past week against Oklahoma.
They are massive favorites against Eastern Illinois this weekend and then will again be large favorites against Auburn in the Iron Bowl.
Utah (8-2) and BYU (9-1) each face unranked teams before a potential berth in the Big 12 title game, which comes with an automatic berth in the CFP.
English (US)