Nick Saban: Hurricanes will be ‘one of the most dangerous teams’ if they make playoff
Whether the Miami Hurricanes make it into the 12-team College Football Playoff or not is still up in the air. No. 12 UM did what it had to do on Saturday with a 38-7 thrashing of the No. 22 Pittsburgh Panthers but still most likely needs to hope for help along the way to make the field.
But if the Hurricanes do get in, Nick Saban believes they’ll be a threat to anyone who gets in their way.
“If Miami finds their way into the playoffs, they will be one of the most dangerous team in the playoff — forget about the ACC,” Saban, the seven-time national champion coach, said on ESPN’s College GameDay. “With Carson Beck, the offensive line they have, the skill guys they have, the defense they have — I don’t want to say they underachieved by losing two games, but if they get in this playoff, they are going to be the most dangerous that anybody has to play because of the talent level they have.”
The Hurricanes are on the outside looking in of the field entering this week. Losses to Louisville and SMU in a three-week stretch hindered their path.
But Miami has since won three consecutive games in convincing fashion, beating Syracuse, NC State and Virginia Tech by a combined score of 113-34 to rise up six spots from No. 18 in the CFP selection committee’s initial ranking to No. 12. Miami, as such, is the highest ranked ACC team despite needing help — a win over Pitt plus at least two of Duke, SMU and Virginia losing — to get to Charlotte for the ACC championship.
But the talent level of Miami’s roster did leave the GameDay panel wondering if that’s playing a factor in how the committee is ranking Miami.
“Do you think that’s why the CFP committee has had them ranked so high because they see the same thing you see?” Pat McAfee asked. “They see six-foot-four, 240 pounds coming off one side, 6-3 230 off the other side. They have the most Sunday-like team, it appears, which is probably what the CFP committee has been hoping for. A lot of things have to happen for them to get to the ACC championship. Maybe an at-large.”
But if they get in, watch out.
“It is hard to ignore the eyeball test,” Saban said. “And there’s some good looking football teams out there that I think are going to be real challenges when it comes to the playoffs.”
This story was originally published November 29, 2025 at 10:20 AM.
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