\n<\/p>\n
Less than three weeks out from the announcement of the College Football Playoff field, it seems we could be headed for another head-scratching decision regarding this year’s 12-team bracket.<\/p>\n
In Tuesday\u2019s updated rankings from the selection committee, Notre Dame sits at No. 9 while Miami is 13th.<\/p>\n
Both teams are 8\u20132. Miami beat Notre Dame 27\u201324 back in Week 1. And yet, it seems clear the Fighting Irish will comfortably be in the field once again if they win their final two games, while the Hurricanes will probably need chaos to break their way since they\u2019re very likely to miss the ACC Championship Game.<\/p>\n
How is this the case when we literally have proof of what happens when these two seemingly comparable teams face off on the field?<\/p>\n
\u201cI think when you look at Notre Dame and Miami, we really compare the losses of those two teams. Miami has lost to two unranked teams,\u201d new selection committee chair Hunter Yurachek said Tuesday. \u201cWe really haven\u2019t compared those two teams, they haven\u2019t been in similar comparative pools to date. But Miami is creeping up to where they will be compared to Notre Dame if something happens above them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yurachek, who took over the role on Nov. 13 when Mack Rhoades stepped down<\/a> while taking a leave of absence as Baylor\u2019s athletic director, is technically right about Miami\u2019s losses.<\/p>\n Louisville was ranked before losing a second straight game Saturday, but in the updated rankings, the Hurricanes\u2019 two losses are indeed to unranked ACC teams. Still, Louisville and SMU are a combined 14\u20136 (9\u20134 in ACC), so they aren\u2019t exactly pushovers.<\/p>\n They also aren\u2019t the top-15 teams that Notre Dame lost to in its first two games (Miami and now-No. 3 Texas A&M) before rattling off its current eight-game winning streak.<\/p>\n But that\u2019s only half the equation. Who you lose to matters \u2014 but who you beat should matter just as much.<\/p>\n Miami has a top-10 win over Notre Dame and what was another ranked win over South Florida until the Bulls took their third loss Saturday and fell out of the top 25.<\/p>\n Notre Dame has a win over No. 15 USC and a win over a Pitt team it just knocked out of the rankings. Beyond that, the Irish have beaten two Group of Six teams above .500 (Boise State at 6\u20134 and Navy at 8\u20132) and four Power Four opponents who are a combined 10\u201332 this season.<\/p>\n Miami has the worse losses. It also has the best win<\/a> \u2014 and arguably a better overall set of wins.<\/p>\n Shouldn\u2019t both of those things matter? And if the r\u00e9sum\u00e9s are as similar as many believe, shouldn\u2019t the tiebreaker be the head-to-head matchup they literally played this season?<\/p>\n Sometimes I feel like I\u2019m taking crazy pills listening to some of the CFP committee\u2019s ranking logic. The most frustrating part is how the committee seems to value entirely different criteria every single year.<\/p>\n Some seasons, good wins matter most. Other years, it\u2019s all about avoiding bad losses. In 2014, it was \u201cgame control.\u201d Then there was the dreadful Florida State snub in 2023, credited largely to Jordan Travis\u2019 injury.<\/a><\/p>\n All we ask for is consistency, and apparently that\u2019s too much to request.<\/p>\n Pittsburgh could do the CFP selection committee a real solid by knocking off Miami in the final week of the regular season and making this comparison point irrelevant.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n