After heated debate and weeks of anticipation, the wait is finally over and the debate has been decided. The Miami Hurricanes are going to the College Football Playoff as the 10 seed in the College Football Playoff bracket.
Miami got the nod over Notre Dame and BYU as the first two at-large teams out of the bracket.
Since Miami fell to two losses on the year, Hurricanes and Fighting Irish fans argued over whether or not Miami’s 27-24 win at the beginning of the season should factor in.
At the middle point of the season, Miami looked shaky with losses to Louisville and SMU — two respectable teams but games that Miami was a heavy favorite for. With those two losses, the Hurricanes were on the outside looking for the conference let alone College Football Playoffs.
But down the stretch, Miami played some of its best football of the season dominating teams and out scoring its opponents by 110 points through their last four contests.
While their two losses and some other tie breakers kept the Hurricanes out of the ACC championship, the team’s wins were impressive enough to keep the ’Canes right within striking distance. Then, when BYU was dominated in the Big-12 championship, the door opened up for Miami to finally get compared one to one with Notre Dame.
With similar strength of record, schedule, and nearly one-to-one resumes one thing was left to break the tie. Head to head — as Mario Cristobal has been preaching for weeks — was the ultimate decider in the Committee’s decision to put the Hurricanes in.
Miami, as the 10 seed in the bracket, will play No. 7 ranked Texas A&M at Kyle Field on Dec. 20 at noon on ESPN and ABC.