Wow. Wow wow. Wowowowowowow. Man. what a weekend for the Miami Hurricanes. I sat down at my computer, and I knew what I was going to write. But then, the million thoughts that have flooded my brain just
came through all at once, and I’m trying to process them all.
So bear with me. Here we go.
1) So, yeah, the Miami Hurricanes are in the playoff.
And man, the level of nerves was on par with watching a major game play out yesterday. Like, my reaction when the U flashed on the screen for the final spot was akin to a game-winning field goal against Florida State or, heh, Notre Dame.
After coming up a half of football short of making it last year and getting a home game with Cam Ward under center, we finally get to see Miami play a playoff game. A playoff game THAT THEY DESERVE, to be clear.
2) Because, my friends, I honestly think both Miami and Notre Dame should have been in over Alabama.
That was one of the more wackadoodle committees I’ve seen as far as how they handle things week-to-week, but how things went over the last week took the cake. Look, I didn’t like that Miami was behind Notre Dame before Tuesday at all, but I understood it to a mild degree. The Canes were coming off of two bleh losses in three weeks immediately before the rankings were released. 18 was low, in my humble opinion, but Miami was going to be below Notre Dame after that.
But after beating Pitt – and doing it by more than Notre Dame did – I thought Miami should have been above the Irish there without a doubt. They weren’t. Instead, BYU was wedged in there for…reasons…and so, again, for reasons, the Canes and Irish weren’t compared head-to-head, or at least not fully. But Alabama moved up for beating a shitty Auburn team in the final minutes? That was odd.
But Alabama not moving down after getting mollywhopped by Georgia in the SEC title game was the real indignity to me. My hands flew up on my head and my jaw dropped when I saw them revealed at No. 9 yesterday. I had HOPED to see Miami at 9, obviously, and I FEARED it was going to be Notre Dame at 9. I did not even consider it would have been Bama holding pat.
That makes zero sense, as the Tide have pooped themselves over the last month of the season. Close wins over bad teams. Two losses to the only two teams with a pulse they played. And let’s not forget the worst loss in the field to 5-7 FSU in Week 1. This is a team playing like a walking first-round exit, if we’re talking eye test. Ty Simpson was putrid and looked like Sam Darnold seeing ghosts in the Meadowlands. But, in the end, there was no consequence for the loss, and the SEC got team #5 in.
If Notre Dame has a gripe, it should be with Bama getting in, not Miami.
3) Because the argument to move Miami up on Sunday actually made sense.
Committee chair Hunter Yurachek talked last week about how a direct side-by-side comparison of Notre Dame and Miami would result in an easier head-to-head usage. Well, BYU got blown out again by Texas Tech and showed it wasn’t worthy of playoff consideration and properly dropped. Now, Miami and Notre Dame are side-by-side for the first time. While there aren’t any new “data points” created by the teams themselves, there is a new situation to re-consider among the two teams in that they are finally adjacent in the rankings. And that brings back in the committee’s most applicable criterion between the teams at a point that the committee hadn’t evaluated them before. And the choice there was obvious. I get it. Many don’t, and that’s fine. But I do.
4) However, going back to the gripe thing, Notre Dame’s AD said its relationship with the ACC is permanently damages.
Okay. Smell ya’ later, fellas. I don’t think you get that, even if the ACC were to implode from it – they won’t – We. Don’t. Care. Enough teams would want out anyways IMHO, and I don’t think the long-term shelf life for this conference is there.
And what did you expect them to do? You’re not a full member. They’re going to stump and argue for a full member. Want a conference to go to bat for your inclusion in the College Football Playoff? THEN JOIN A DAMNED CONFERENCE IN FOOTBALL!!!!
5) The Irish are also opting out of their bowl game.
A truly sad sack decision that is nothing more than sour grapes. Your seniors don’t get to play again. You don’t get extra practice reps for your players. If this was unanimous by the players, then ok. But if I’m Marcus Freeman, I’m finding a way to get them to play and go beat the brakes off BYU and prove you are a playoff team and that everyone is wrong. Not to mention getting money for your program. I don’t get any of that at all.
6) Looking ahead to Texas A&M, man, so much to break down and talk about this week. And we will. But just chew on this massive slap in the face from an A&M starter towards Rueben Bain, Jr. for a moment.
Alright then. It’s on, Aggies.
Go Canes!
