The Miami Hurricanes are on the outside looking in for both the ACC Championship game and, more importantly now, the College Football Playoff field.
The hopes for the ACC title are gone with Virginia and Duke squaring off, and Miami’s at large hopes aren’t particularly high either, as the committee continued to disrespect Miami by keeping them at 12 after steamrolling a then-ranked Pittsburgh team 38-7. But hey, they were impressed with Bama’s last-minute win over 5-7 Auburn who was playing with an interim coach. Oh, and that they were up 17-0 on Auburn at one point. I can’t with these absolute fools anymore.
But what it did for Alabama jumping over Notre Dame from 10 to 9 is put the Irish a hair closer to Miami, with only BYU sitting between the two. Oh, and BYU plays on Saturday against a team that throttled them 26-7 the first time around.
And that’s created a shred of hope for Miami fans that the committee could grow a conscience if BYU gets trucked again by Texas Tech, drop the Cougars, put the Irish and Canes side by side, and finally do what they have done in every single other head-to-head scenario in the rankings of close teams and put Miami ahead. But that might also require Alabama to win, or at least lose a very close game to prevent ND from jumping back to 9 and having a buffer between Miami again. And it might even require Duke to beat Virginia so the ACC has no other representation. I don’t even know anymore at this point.
But it begs my titular question: what do I realistically hope happens this weekend?
Because, if BYU wins, Notre Dame is very likely bumped out of the field, with their only hope jumping back in over Alabama if they lose to Georgia. And do you see the committee knocking out an SEC team altogether, much less Alabama, for losing their conference title game, even in favor of Notre Dame? Me neither. The only way ND is ahead of Bama is if BYU isn’t there to steal a bid from one of them and it’s used to work against Miami like I mentioned before.
I can handle a situation where both Miami and Notre Dame are in, and I can handle a situation where both Notre Dame and Miami are out. I really can.
But if BYU loses and drops, and Notre Dame and Miami are side by side, and the committee STILL puts Notre Dame in? Or if they keep BYU in place to use as a buffer despite a loss? My friends, I’m done with this sport. That’s it. And the credibility of the committee and the selection process will be forever terribly damaged. I really could see them still ignoring head-to-head because they CLEARLY want Notre Dame in the field and like them better than Miami come hell or high water. Is it possible they flip? Yes, I guess, but if they believed Miami was better or more deserving, they’d have them higher right now, I fear.
And to hell with the ACC for allowing this horse shit tiebreaker nonsense to happen. If Miami is out, I hope Duke wins and the entire ACC is out too, and that would happen if Duke wins and James Madison – a heavy favorite – wins their conference title game. Duke would almost certainly be out then, as there would be five ranked conference champs in front of them. And I will laugh and feel a level of smug satisfaction with the ACC losing millions because they’re stupid and/or lazy.
Bottom line: I feel like it’s very much a possibility for BYU to lose and Miami still end up being out in favor of the Irish. I would rather BYU win in that case and knock ND and Miami out and shut the door. But part of my – that irrationally optimistic part – is still whispering in my ear to not give up that sliver of hope. (But either way, I hope Duke throws egg all in the ACC’s face this weekend.)
Fortunately, BYU and Texas Tech kick off at noon, so I won’t have to wait all day and wonder. But for now, man, y’all. I just don’t know.