The Week 13 College Football Playoff rankings are out, which means that debates are raging all across the nation about which teams are too high and which ones are too low.
One of the teams at the center of those debates is Miami, who came in at No. 8 with a 9-1 record. Miami is also slotted in as the No. 3 seed in the mock brackets as the current ACC Champion. Despite being behind SMU in the conference standings, Miami gets the nod in the current bracket because they are ranked higher than the Mustangs, who are currently No. 13. Of course, that is a debate that will be settled on the field.
Miami is ranked just ahead of Georgia and Ole Miss, who both have two losses but have played significantly more difficult schedules and have impressive wins that Miami does not. After the rankings were released, fans were in shock that the Hurricanes got so much respect from the committee.
“Miami Hurricanes ain’t won a meaningful game in 23 years but yeah let’s ranked them in the top 10 lmao,” one fan wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Miami is 9-1 with an unranked loss and 0 good wins. They shouldn’t even be top 10,” another fan added.
Of course, Georgia is coming off of an impressive win over Tennessee and also has a road win against No. 3 Texas. Ole Miss has a big win over Georgia as well.
On the other hand, Miami’s best wins are against Louisville and Florida, neither of whom is currently ranked. The Hurricanes also lost a close road game to four-loss Georgia Tech. As a result, fans expected Miami to be ranked a little bit lower despite having just the one defeat on its resume.
Miami three wins from CFP first-round bye
Despite all of the hand-wringing about Miami’s current ranking, it still has everything to play for over the next three weeks. Cam Ward and the Hurricanes have two more regular season games, against Wake Forest and Syracuse, before playing in the ACC Championship game if they’re able to win them both.
That ACC title game would likely be against SMU, who still has not lost a game in ACC play. While Miami would certainly be favored to win, getting to 12-1 will be no easy task.
Miami has shown plenty of vulnerabilities this season despite its sparkling record. Cam Ward, despite being a contender to win the Heisman Trophy, is still too careless with the ball at times. The Hurricanes’ defense is also exploitable, which a team like Syracuse can exploit.
Miami still being ranked at No. 8 in this week’s rankings is crucial. It means that if it continues to win, it will earn the No. 3 seed in the playoff and a first-round bye. With the Hurricanes ranked ahead of three SEC teams, it becomes very unlikely that Boise State or the Big 12 champion, whoever that ends up being, can jump up in front of them.
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