Sports

Playoff Committee Creates Confusion With Puzzling Contradiction Amid Miami Football Controversy

#College Football
by
Miami Hurricanes football

© Sam Navarro-Imagn Images


Year in and year out, criticism surrounds the College Football Playoff selection process. The 2025 season will be no different.

Through three weeks of rankings releases, inconsistencies have been the biggest talking point. The committee contradicted itself after dropping its most recent poll in an attempt to inform viewers.

It created more confusion than clarity.

The committee’s job is to compare the resumes of college football’s top teams, then rank those teams in order to form a playoff field.

Metrics and data points are provided to remove the human element. Unfortunately, information can always be shaped to fit a narrative. It’s hurting one league more than most.

Will the ACC get a team in the College Football Playoff field?

It’s a legitimate question being posed, and one that might have the conference rooting against one of its own over the last two weeks of the regular season.

There are currently no ACC teams ranked in the Top 12. Miami poses the biggest threat to make the field, though they are a longshot to make the conference title game.

With five league foes owning one loss in ACC play, the Hurricanes need help to win the crown. If they are unable to make that championship game appearance, they will need to be selected as an at-large team.

Here’s where things get interesting.

The five most-highly ranked conference champions will get an automatic bid. That gives a rival like Virginia or SMU an opportunity to make the field over the Hurricanes despite the likelihood of being ranked lower in the Top 25.

As things currently stand, Georgia Tech (No. 16), Virginia (No. 19), Pitt (unranked), Duke (unranked), and SMU (unranked) sit behind Miami in the poll while boasting better championship game odds.

Miami reaches ACC Championship Game if …

  1. Beats Virginia Tech and Pitt
  2. Virginia beats Virginia Tech
  3. Pitt beats Georgia Tech, Duke beats North Carolina, SMU beats Louisville
  4. Cal beats SMU, Wake Forest beats Duke

OR

  1. Beats Virginia Tech and Pitt
  2. Virginia beats Virginia Tech
  3. Pitt beats Georgia Tech, Duke beats North Carolina, Louisville beats SMU
  4. SMU beats Cal, Wake Forest beats Duke

An at-large bid is the most likely scenario for Miami to make the College Football Playoff field. With five SEC teams, three Big 12 teams, three Big 10 teams, and Notre Dame ranked ahead of the Hurricanes, that, too, may be a tall ask.

About Notre Dame…

The Irish are currently ranked No. 9 with two losses, one of which came against Miami. There is a debate as to which team should be ranked more highly.

The Hurricanes own the head-to-head victory. The strengths of their records are similar. The committee offered this explanation on their respective standings.

Notre Dame is being rewarded for losing close to good teams. Miami is not being applauded for beating the Irish on the field.

If the two didn’t boast identical 8-2 records, this wouldn’t be a talking point. They do, and it is.

College football personality Paul Finebaum, like many others around the nation, believes the committee will invite the teams it prefers. Members will then skew the data to provide reasoning.

“There is a bias,” he said this week. “Let’s just go ahead and admit it. And this committee, I have no earthly idea why they can’t move beyond it because they’re supposed to be objective… I feel badly for Miami.”

Miami isn’t the only ACC team that could potentially get snubbed. The league pointed that out while questioning the selection process.

The CFP committee contradicted itself.

Oregon is ranked inside the Top 10 with one loss. The Ducks have not beaten a team currently in the Top 25. With that being said, the committee values their win over 4-6 Penn State heavily.

“I know Penn State is not the same Penn State we expected them to be this year,” said Hunter Yurachek. “Still, it’s a very challenging place to play.”

It then decided to drop that line of thinking when evaluating Virginia’s resume.

“Louisville… fell out of our rankings,” said Yurachek after the Cardinals’ one-point loss to Clemson. “That was a significant win at the time for Virginia.”

That same Louisville team is 7-3, beat Miami, and has three losses by a combined seven points with two coming in overtime.

Oregon’s victory over four-win Penn State is being rewarded, largely due to preseason perception. Virginia’s victory over a fringe Top 25 team is being punished. The criteria is changing from resume to resume.

The ACC pointed out the inconsistency.

The selection process is not easy. Someone will always be left out. The committee, however, does itself no favors with its lack of transparency and everchanging evaluation.

At some point, fans and teams just want consistency. It does not appear the ’25 committee will provide it.