CFP chair gives befuddling reason for ranking Notre Dame over Miami
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In the latest College Football Playoff Top 25, released Tuesday night by the CFP selection committee, Notre Dame is ranked 4 spots ahead of Miami.
The Irish are 8-2 on the season, sitting at No. 9 in the ranking. If the regular season ended today, the Irish would be in the field. The Hurricanes are also 8-2, though they sit back at No. 13.
“I think when you look at Notre Dame and Miami, we really compare the losses of those 2 teams,” selection committee chair Hunter Yurachek said to ESPN Tuesday night. “Miami has lost to 2 unranked teams. Notre Dame has lost to 2 teams that are ranked in our top 13.”
There’s only one small problem with that logic.
One of those 2 Notre Dame losses? That was to Miami.
“We really haven’t compared those 2 teams,” Yurachek said. “They haven’t been in similar comparative pools to date.”
What?
Yurachek, who is also the Arkansas athletic director, suggested that Notre Dame and Miami are so far apart from each other in the committee’s estimation that a head-to-head result doesn’t even come into play.
The selection committee ranks teams in voting blocks, looking at pods of teams at a time. Miami isn’t in Notre Dame’s orbit, so there’s no reason for the committee to compare the 2 teams, according to the committee.
“But Miami is creeping up into that range where they will be compared to Notre Dame if something happens above them,” Yurachek said.
Miami is still in the field based on the current batch of rankings. The Hurricanes would land the No. 11 seed. But, with a very slim chance to make the ACC title game, the Hurricanes would be in real danger if a bid thief emerged during conference championship weekend. They aren’t a lock; Notre Dame seems to be.
And, based on Yurachek’s statements Tuesday night on ESPN, Miami can’t really change that unless teams in front of it trip up.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
