Expected but painful: Miami Hurricanes jumped by UNC in playoff rankings after blowout
It was nice while it lasted, but after Saturday’s 62-26 blowout of Miami by North Carolina, the Hurricanes knew what was coming.
Miami (8-2, 7-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) plunged 8 spots Tuesday night from No. 10 to No. 18 in the next-to-the-last College Football Playoff rankings, while UNC (8-3, 7-3) rose two spots from No. 17 to No. 15 — making it all but official that should one-loss CFP No. 3 Clemson beat undefeated No. 2 Notre Dame on Saturday in the ACC Championship, the Tar Heels would play in the Jan. 2 Capital One Orange Bowl.
However, should Notre Dame defeat Clemson for the second time this season, the Tigers might drop out of the top four that advance to the playoffs and could instead play in the Orange Bowl. The Orange Bowl is obligated to take the highest ranked ACC team (that is not in the playoffs) in the final CFP rankings.
Regardless, the Tar Heels, not the Canes, would be the next in line for the Orange Bowl should Clemson and Notre Dame head to the playoffs.
“Watching the ACC Championship — watching that game between Notre Dame and Clemson, I know I’m looking forward to it,’’ College Football Playoff selection committee chairman Gary Barta said on the ESPN telecast that revealed the new rankings.
The top four CFP teams remained the same: No. 1 Alabama (10-0), Notre Dame (10-0, 9-0 ACC), Clemson (9-1, 8-1) and No. 4 Ohio State (5-0).
The Gators (8-2), who were No. 6 in last week’s CFP rankings, lost to unranked LSU (4-5) but surprisingly fell only one spot Tuesday to No. 7.
“Florida is sitting at No. 7?’’ said ESPN analyst Joey Galloway. “They still got a shot at this thing. I assumed that losing to a 3-5 LSU team that had looked terrible and lost by a million points to Alabama, I thought Florida would be much lower than that. But sitting at 7, if they knock off Alabama [in Saturday’s SEC Championship Game], we got a discussion on Sunday.’’
That, in turn, prompted conversation among the ESPN commentators that if Florida only dropped one spot after its loss — though by only three points — to a losing team, then Clemson might still make it to the playoffs with a loss to Notre Dame.
The Canes, however, are no longer in contention for a high-profile bowl. Because of their recent loss, the Canes will likely play in either the Cheez-It Bowl against a Big XII opponent Dec. 29 in Orlando or the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl Jan. 2 against a Southeastern Conference team in Jacksonville.
Duke’s Mayo Bowl Dec. 30 in Charlotte or the Military Bowl Dec. 28 in Annapolis would still be possibilities for Miami, but the coronavirus pandemic will likely have conferences attempting to place their non-New-Year’s-Six-bound members in bowls that are closer to home.
The College Football Playoff selection committee will reveal its final rankings on Sunday, when teams will learn their bowl destinations.
Rounding out the CFP top 10 are No. 5 Texas A&M (7-1), No. 6 Iowa State (8-2), No. 7 Florida (8-2), No. 8 Georgia (7-2), No. 9 Cincinnati (8-0) and No. 10 Oklahoma (7-2).
This story was originally published December 15, 2020 at 7:20 PM.
