“We woke up one morning and the national championship was staring us in the face.”
No, that wasn’t Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal on Wednesday morning after the first College Football Playoff ranking came out. It was Howard Schnellenberger looking back at the University for Miami’s first national title, the one back in 1983, the one that first drew the label, “Miracle in Miami.”
“No one was even talking about it until it was right there asking us to take it,” Schnellenberger said.
If history isn’t repeating, is it rhyming? The ranking had undefeated Miami at No. 4, meaning they’d get an all-important bye as things stand and be one playoff win from the national championship game.
I know this makes Miami fans nervous to talk like this. So talk softly, if you want. Whisper even. But don’t worry too hard about being heard. No one nationally is talking about Miami. It’s the oddest and maybe best situation of all. Miami has the best road ahead to the championship game and no one’s talking about them.
They’re talking about No. 1 and undefeated Oregon. They’re talking about one-loss teams like No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Georgia. Heck, they’re talking about Alabama, a two-loss team sitting at No. 11.
No one’s taking about Miami. But why wouldn’t you believe in Miami has much a chance as anyone?
Look around. The Hurricanes’ path is easier than the three teams ahead of them. They’re favored by at least 17 points against the three remaining ACC teams on their schedule (Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and Syracuse).
That leads to an ACC Championship Game probably against No. 13 Southern Methodist. That’s not a given. But, again, Miami (9-0) will be favored in an easier conference championship than the SEC or Big Ten teams face. If they lose in those games, they lose their bye. That makes for a more difficult road.
Let’s be clear, too: Miami has to win out this season even to make the playoffs. One loss and they’re out of the 12-team party as things stand now. That’s because the blessing and curse of their regular-season schedule is it doesn’t include a top 20 team.
Everyone has wondered for a couple of decades when it would pay off for Miami to be a part of the ACC. This is the year. There are four ACC teams with two or fewer losses — but Miami wouldn’t play one until the title game.
Still, wise up about why Miami is ahead of similarly undefeated teams like No. 8 Indiana and No. 9 Brigham Young. It’s prime reason it can win the national title, too.
Miami has the best player in the country, quarterback Cam Ward, leading the best offense in the country.
Most points.
Most yards.
Most excitement on any TV broadcast — and, yes, the TV wishes still matter in rankings.
“We looked at how Miami has played, particularly their offensive prowess,” said Warde Manuel, the CFP committee chairman and Michigan athletic director.
Sure, their pass defense is suspect. You think there’s a perfect team out there? Oregon nipped Ohio State, 32-31. That wasn’t a 1970s-era defensive struggle on the Midwestern plains. Georgia lost to No. 11 Alabama, which has lost twice and is still expected to be in the playoffs.
The fact Alabama is still around shows this playoff poll isn’t a strict meritocracy. It tried to be last year when the first playoff ranking had the top five teams undefeated, the next eight teams with one loss and the next 10 with two losses.
This year the voters aren’t playing like that. Maybe the previous year or the sticker on the helmet shouldn’t matter. But it does. Being popular matters, too. The SEC and Big Ten have four teams in the playoff right now.
Miami is the only ACC team. But the way to the championship game shimmers before it. After the three regular-season games and the ACC title game, the bye week would be followed by a faux bowl game.
As this first playoff ranking stands, Miami could play in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta against the winner of Alabama and Tennessee. That would be for the right to go to the championship game.
Cristobal keeps talking about trying to go 1-0 every week. He’s the coach. He has to talk like that. But you’re allowed as a fan to look ahead at why Miami has as much a chance as anyone to win it all.
You can look back, too. Schnellenberger realized only before that Orange Bowl game against Nebraska in the 1983 season the national title was, “staring us in the face,” as he said.
It’s not quite staring Miami in the face this season. But in early November it’s making eye contact from across the room.