Hurricanes ended the regular season strong. Now, the playoff waiting game begins
The Miami Hurricanes’ regular-season is over.
Now, they have to play the waiting game.
And it will be a long week of waiting.
The 12th-ranked Hurricanes, whose 38-7 road win over No. 22 Pittsburgh on Saturday closed out a four-game winning streak, now have to bide their time and see how the landscape shakes out after conference championship weekend to see if they will get a coveted spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff.
“It’s kind of up in the air,” quarterback Carson Beck said, “and not in our hands at this moment.”
But up until this point, the Hurricanes (10-2, 6-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) did everything in their power to remain in the playoff conversation.
After dropping two games in a three-week stretch — a 24-21 home loss to Louisville and a 26-20 overtime loss at SMU — Miami rattled off four consecutive victories. The Hurricanes outscored Syracuse, NC State, Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh by a combined 151-41 and played sound football.
The offense averaged nearly 450 yards per game; the defense held opponents to an average of 263 per game.
The defense forced seven turnovers, which the offense turned into 24 points; the offense gave the ball up twice.
Miami has dominated both lines of scrimmage, logging 31 tackles for loss and 17 sacks on defense while giving up 15 tackles for loss and five sacks of its own.
UM’s offensive line on the season has only allowed 42 tackles for loss (tied for the sixth-fewest nationally) and 11 sacks (tied for the eighth-fewest nationally).
Against Pittsburgh on Saturday, Miami overcame an early 7-3 deficit by scoring touchdowns on four consecutive drives of 56, 75, 75 and 59 yards to go up 31-7 late in the third quarter. The defense held Pitt to just 229 total yards, a season-low 30 rushing yards and 4 of 13 on third-down while forcing four sacks and six tackles for loss.
After giving up a second-quarter touchdown, Miami’s defense limited the Panthers to just 153 yards and only one other real scoring attempt — a missed long field goal — over their final six drives while the offense built its lead.
“We’ve shown that we can compete with anyone and that we have a really, really talented team,” quarterback Carson Beck said. “Not just a few talented players here and there, but a really talented team that is really efficient, that plays really, really well in all three phases of the game.”
That got the Hurricanes to this point. That got them over the speed bump caused by their midseason slip up.
But it could only get them so far.
They still need help, a break or two to go there way before the final judgment comes next Sunday and the selection committee’s final ranking is revealed.
Miami will get a better understanding of exactly where it stands on Tuesday when the committee’s penultimate ranking comes out. The Hurricanes have risen in the ranking every week — from No. 18 to No. 15 to No. 13 and most recently No. 12 — but still remains on the outside looking in.
The playoff field consists of the five highest-ranked conference champions, with the next seven highest-ranked teams receiving at-large bids.
However, only three conferences have teams ranked above Miami — the Southeastern Conference, Big Ten and Big 12 — and the Hurricanes aren’t in the ACC Championship Game (that matchup is Virginia vs. Duke). With that, UM needs to finish at least No. 10 in the rankings to secure its at-large bid into the field because two conference champions outside the top 12 in the rankings are getting into the playoff field.
“What happens with playoffs and their decisions is out of our control,” freshman wide receiver Malachi Toney said, “but I’d say we did a great job of just going out there playing complementary football all season. Of course, we had a few fall offs, like a couple of weeks here and there, but I say we did a great job playing well-rounded football and playing together.”
So what does Miami need to happen?
Mainly, Miami needs the Alabama Crimson Tide and BYU Cougars — the teams directly ahead of them in the most recent rankings at Nos. 10 and 11, respectively — to lose in their conference championship game and hope it’s enough for the committee to jump the Hurricanes over both.
Alabama plays the Georgia Bulldogs in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game at 4 p.m. Saturday in Atlanta. BYU plays the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the Big 12 Championship Game at noon Saturday in Arlington, Texas. Both are rematches from the regular season. Alabama beat Georgia 24-21 on Sept. 27. Texas Tech beat BYU 29-7 on Nov. 8.
“This is a College Football Playoff team,” Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal said. “We’ve all seen it. We know it.”
Whether that will actually be the case will be determined in due time.
But for now, the waiting game begins.
This story was originally published November 30, 2025 at 8:30 AM.
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