Which games this week could help the Hurricanes’ College Football Playoff case?
Miami Hurricanes fans likely rejoiced Tuesday when the latest College Football Playoff rankings came out.
Miami checked in at No. 15, up three spots from its initial ranking of 18 last week, and was shown on ESPN as being in the 12-team playoff field if the season ended today.
However, there’s a major caveat. Miami’s placement into the playoff field at this moment is solely because it is ranked as the highest team in the Atlantic Coast Conference after leapfrogging Georgia Tech (No. 16), Virginia (No. 19) and Louisville (No. 20) and thus is being viewed as the conference champion at the moment. The five highest-ranked conference champions receive automatic bids into the field.
The problem with that? Miami (7-2, 3-2 ACC) right now is on the outside looking in of even getting to Charlotte, North Carolina, for the ACC title game on Dec. 6, making this playoff projection flimsy at best.
All that to say Miami, in addition to needing to win its final three games of the season (home at 3:30 p.m. Saturday against NC State, at Virginia Tech Nov. 22 and at Pittsburgh Nov. 29), will still need help in order to make the 12-team playoff — whether that’s via an ACC title or getting one of the seven at-large spots into the field.
The Hurricanes have a chance to get a lot of it this week, with seven games having the potential to aid Miami’s case for the postseason.
Here’s a look at those seven games, including which teams Hurricanes fans should be cheering for in each matchup.
Friday
Clemson at No. 20 Louisville (7:30 p.m., ESPN): The Cardinals, like the Hurricanes, have two conference losses already. A third eliminates them not only from ACC Championship Game contention but also knocks them out of CFP consideration.
Saturday
No. 9 Notre Dame at No. 22 Pittsburgh (noon, ABC): If Miami wants to make the CFP, it’s going to have to beat Pittsburgh at the end of the season, which would give the Panthers a third loss no matter what.
If Pittsburgh were to pull at least one upset before that against teams above Miami in the standings in Notre Dame this week and/or Georgia Tech next week, it would help the Hurricanes’ cause.
No. 11 Oklahoma at No. 4 Alabama (3:30 p.m., ABC): Oklahoma getting a third loss would be beneficial for Miami. The Sooners’ top wins right now are against No. 18 Michigan and No. 21 Tennessee, while they have losses to No. 10 Texas by 17 points and No. 6 Ole Miss by 12 points.
No. 19 Virginia at Duke (3:30 p.m., ESPN2): After the Cavaliers’ upset loss to Wake Forest last weekend, the ACC enters this week with five teams atop the leaderboard in the conference standings with one ACC loss. This is the only matchup this week between two of those teams. A Duke win — and the Blue Devils are the early betting favorite in this one — would slide Virginia out of CFP contention and would be more beneficial to Miami’s chances of reaching the conference title game.
That said... a four-loss Duke team making a run to and winning the ACC title would be an ultimate test case for the playoff committee. Could it — and would it — keep the ACC out altogether at that point? Remember, it’s the five highest-ranked conference champions — not the champions of the Power 4 conferences and then the top Group of 5 champion — that get auto-bids.
No. 13 Utah at Baylor (7 p.m., ESPN2): For the second consecutive week, the Utes are ranked above the Hurricanes and could likely remain that way if they win out. Utah’s road game at Baylor is its toughest game remaining on the schedule and best chance for it to get a third loss.
No. 10 Texas at No. 5 Georgia (7:30 p.m., ABC): The Longhorns getting a third loss would be beneficial for Miami. Texas’ best wins this season are to No. 11 Oklahoma by 17 and a three-point win against No. 13 Vanderbilt. UT lost in the season opener to Ohio State, which has been the No. 1 team in the country since then, and has a loss to a three-win Florida Gators team that Miami beat by 19.
TCU at No. 12 BYU (10:15 p.m., ESPN): BYU is the most fragile of the one-loss teams remaining and the one that would most likely fall behind Miami with two losses. So Hurricanes fans should root against the Cougars the rest of the way and hope Texas Tech runs the floor with the Big 12.
This story was originally published November 12, 2025 at 9:56 AM.
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