Miami's fate is in the hands of the College Football Playoff committee. Cam Ward says the Hurricanes deserve a shot
And now, Miami waits.
The next week will be loaded with anxiety for the Hurricanes, who won't play for the Atlantic Coast Conference title and now are left to wonder if their 10-win regular season — capped by a 42-38 loss at Syracuse on Saturday — was good enough to merit an invitation to the College Football Playoff.
They'll find out for certain when the 12-team field is announced next Sunday.
"If they knew what was up, they'd put us in the playoff," Miami quarterback Cam Ward said. "We are that team."
He'll know in a week if the CFP selection committee agrees.
Ward is the best argument Miami (10-2, 6-2 ACC) has for a playoff invitation. The Hurricanes' Heisman Trophy hopeful is the centerpiece of an offense that leads the nation in points per game, yards per game, yards per play and third-down conversion percentage. Miami scored at least 38 points in 10 of its 12 games; no other FBS team had more than eight such games.
"It's not in our hands anymore," said Ward, who rewrote the Miami record book — breaking a slew of school single-season marks including passing yards (4,123), touchdown passes (36), completions (293) and completion percentage (67.4%). "But go look at the stats."
The two losses were one-score games on the road — 28-23 at a Georgia Tech team that went 7-5 and took Georgia to eight overtimes before falling this weekend, and 42-38 to a Syracuse team that went 9-3 and had the nation's leader in passing yards. Kyle McCord has 4,326 yards; he's the only player at the FBS level with more than Ward.
If the Hurricanes could make a case against the other two-loss teams, they would likely point out their unbeaten home record and how they never lost by more than one score — things that they think separate them from the other two- and three-loss teams hoping for invites.
Those making a case against Miami would point to how the defense was extremely vulnerable (giving up 38 or more points in three road games), how some wins weren't dominant (big rallies were needed to beat Virginia Tech and California ) and the fact that no opponent was ranked the week they faced the Hurricanes.
"We can control what we can control, so we have to wait and see," Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. "But certainly, this team has really worked hard and busted its butt to put its best foot forward."
A Clemson win over SMU in the ACC title game this coming weekend likely would doom whatever hope Miami has of making the playoff; the Mustangs would probably still be ranked ahead of the Hurricanes in that scenario. If SMU wins, Miami might have a better chance since a four-loss Clemson surely would not be ahead of the Hurricanes.
If the Hurricanes get in, they'll be playing a first-round playoff game on Dec. 20 or Dec. 21 — almost certainly on the road against a team that will be seeded somewhere between No. 5 and No. 8. The top four seeds will have first-round byes.
If no CFP bid comes, Miami will be settling for a bowl game. And in that scenario, many of the Hurricanes might be opting out to focus on preparing for the NFL draft.
"If we get a chance in the playoff, we're going to make the most of it," Ward said. "We don't care if we're a top-eight seed or the 12th seed. Playoffs, it's anybody's chance. We just hope we get a shot at it."
