Are the Hurricanes a playoff team? Mario Cristobal, players make their case
Are the Miami Hurricanes a College Football Playoff team? That’s a question that has gotten resounding debate over the past month and will likely be debated for another week.
The Hurricanes, ranked No. 12 in the latest CFP rankings, certainly believe they are.
And after their resounding 38-7 win over No. 22 Pittsburgh on Saturday, the Hurricanes made their case to the selection committee as to why they should be among the teams competing for a national championship.
Here is what Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal and four players — quarterback Carson Beck, linebacker Wesley Bissainthe, center James Brockermeyer and wide receiver Malachi Toney — said postgame about why UM is a playoff team.
Coach Mario Cristobal
“I would say a lot. I mean, at the end of the day, it’s not only do we pass the eye test, we pass the field test, especially as it relates to playing this brand of football down the stretch and in head-to-head competition versus others that are being judged in the same little pool that we are [in] as well. Plus, we’re getting healthy. No one ever talked about the value of that in the middle of the season, when we got banged up with six [or] seven starters going down, and now we’re almost all the way back. [The way] our quarterback is playing, it’s hard to compare anybody else in the country playing the kind the caliber football that he’s playing. Our defensive and offensive lines have been absolutely dominant, and they showed it from Game 1 all the way to Game Now, forcing opponents to have their worst graded performances against our fronts. I think all that stuff just speaks loudly. Again, it’s not only eye test, it’s a field test.”
Quarterback Carson Beck
“I believe we can compete with anybody, in my opinion — and honestly, not even in my opinion. I think we’ve shown that we can compete with anyone and that we have a really, really talented team. 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. And again, I think we compete with anybody. We’ve done a good job of focusing on what we need to focus on to get to this point. It’s kind of up in the air and not in our hands at this moment, but I think we’ve done what we’ve had to do, and we can go compete with anybody.”
Linebacker Wesley Bissainthe
“I feel like Miami can play with any team in the country. I feel like we can compete with any team in the country. I feel like we got it all on both sides of the ball.”
Offensive lineman James Brockermeyer
“We have an extremely talented team. We have guys all over the field who can make plays. I think throughout the season, through highs and lows, we’ve proven that we can compete with anyone in the country, and that’s what we put on tape. We’ll see what happens.”
Wide receiver Malachi Toney
“What happens with playoffs and their decisions is out of our control, 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.”
This story was originally published November 29, 2025 at 4:58 PM.
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