Mario Cristobal and the Miami football program appeared to be heading toward their first College Football Playoff — and they still may be — but things got a lot harder after Saturday's 28-23 loss to Georgia Tech.
Despite a nearly nonexistent Tech passing attack — the Yellow Jackets attempted just 16 passes and threw for 99 yards — No. 4 Miami could not remain undefeated and inch even closer to the CFP. Instead, the Hurricanes surrendered 271 rushing yards as Georgia Tech held off another Miami comeback en route to an upset.
After the loss, Cristobal gave his assessment of the game.
“The way they ran the football, knowing that they were banged up at quarterback, they did a better job than we did,” Cristobal said, via The Associated Press. “Extremely, extremely disappointing. I think, as you can imagine, the entire locker room is really sad, down, disappointed. You have to own it.”
Miami's College Football Playoff hopes still alive despite Georgia Tech upset
Fortunately for the Hurricanes, this loss will almost certainly not shut the proverbial door on a College Football Playoff berth. It certainly makes it tougher; Miami, ranked fourth in the initial CFP rankings, had a 60% chance of making it into the playoff before Saturday's loss, according to ESPN's Allstate Playoff Predictor. But the ‘Canes still have a clear and direct path to the ACC Championship Game and thus the playoff.
Miami is currently in a tie for second place in the ACC with Clemson, which the Hurricanes do not play this season. If both teams win out and finish their conference schedule with one loss, and assuming SMU remains undefeated in the ACC, Miami would advance to the conference title game as a result of a win vs. Louisville, a common opponent with Clemson to which the Tigers lost.
If Miami wins its remaining three games — vs. Wake Forest (4-5, 2-3), at Syracuse (6-3, 3-3), and the ACC Championship Game — the Hurricanes have a 99% chance of making the playoffs, according to the predictor, as well as a 74% chance to host their first-round opponent.
Of course, Miami has to win each of those games or risk being on the outside looking in on the first 12-team playoff. According to the predictor, Miami's odds of being in the top 12 if it loses in the conference title game fall to 48%, and if the ‘Canes lose one of their final two regular-season games and do not qualify for the ACC Championship Game, the predictor gives Miami just a 10% chance of making it into the CFP.
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