Good morning, Canes.
Here we go to start your Friday:
Miami beats Ole Miss 31-27 in Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, advances to CFP National Championship Game
Miami continued to make history, winning their first-ever Fiesta Bowl, beating the Ole Miss Rebels 31-27 and advancing to the College Football Playoff National Championship Game!
Here’s our Game Recap by Craig T. Smith
Here’s our 3 stars by Mike Schiffman
Here’s The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly by yours truly
Miami is now 13-2 (6-2 in ACC) on the year, and stand one game away from the 6th National Championship in program history!
It wasn’t perfect, but
Miami made key plays in key moments, and earned a hard fought victory over a very talented Ole Miss team. The final touchdown drive, 15 plays, 75 yards, in 2:55 to take the lead with just 18 seconds left is the stuff of dreams and legends. I couldn’t be more proud of this team!
BUT THE WORK’S NOT DONE!!! WE HAVE A NATTY TO GO WIN!!!!!
Winning big games feels good. So good. The goodest.
Next up: The College Football Playoff National Championship game at Hard Rock Stadium
The win over Ole Miss in the Fiesta Bowl means the season’s not done, and the next game will be similar to each of the last 3: Miami will play their toughest opponent of the year.
Miami is waiting for the winner of the Peach Bowl CFP Semifinal between the #5 seed Oregon Ducks and the #1 seed Indiana Hoosiers. Oregon enters the Peach Bowl with CFP wins over James Madison and Texas Tech, and have a 13-1 record on the year. Indiana enters the Peach Bowl with a CFP win over Alabama after a bye, and have a 14-0 record on the year.
Oregon’s only loss on the year is to…..you guessed it, Indiana. The Hoosiers went into Autzen Stadium and beat the homestanding Ducks 30-20 in one of the best games of the CFP regular season. Indiana is the only undefeated FBS team, and the top rated Hoosiers are looking to advance to the National Championship Game for a chance to cap their legendary season with a ring. They’ll have to go through Oregon to get there.
Miami will play the winner of tonight’s Peach Bowl in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game on January 19th in Hard Rock Stadium.
Miami open as hypothetical underdogs in the National Championship Game
Miami has been favorites in 12 of their 15 games this season. The only times they weren’t: the opener against Notre Dame, the CFP first round against Texas A&M, and the CFP Quarterfinals against Ohio State. Miami were favorites against Ole Miss, since I know some people think I missed that one. I did not.
After beating Ole Miss, Miami is a hypothetical underdog in the National Championship Game. This Notre Dame-like line is only hypothetical because we don’t have a firm opponent yet. Call it a projected underdog if you like. Whatever.
Anyways, Miami would be a 5.5pt underdog against Indiana, and a 1.5pt underdog against Oregon.
I don’t see that changing based upon the Peach Bowl (unless the winning team has a bunch of players get hurt), so expect one of those to be the opening line later today when Miami’s opponent in the National Championship Game is finalized.
“Cool story, Cam”. I know, I know. Just sharing the number, well the hypothetical numbers in this case, same as I have every week this season. Do with that information as you will.
Blips on the Radar
- A gamer from Adam Lichtenstein of The South Florida Sun-Sentinel
- A gamer from Jordan McPherson of The Miami Herald
- A gamer from Tia Reid of The Mississippi Clarion Ledger
- A gamer from Michelle Gardner of The Arizona Republic
- Ross Dellenger from Yahoo! Sports has this profile on Miami QB Carson Beck, who was a broken man but now the centerpiece for a team that will play for the National Championship
- Matt Hayes from USA Today says Miami has taken a “U turn” and is again among CFP’s elite programs after nearly 2 decades adrift
- Laken Littman from Fox Sports has 4 takeaways from Miami’s 31-27 Fiesta Bowl win over Ole Miss
The Miami Hurricanes will play for the College Football Playoff National Championship. Man, that puts a smile on my face. I like this “winning” thing we’re doing. Let’s keep that going.
Have a great day, everybody!
