The final College Football Playoff rankings are next week, and there has been a lot of debate about them. Miami and Notre Dame’s placements have generated controversy, because their rankings do not align with the results of their Week 1 matchup.
Sports Co-Editors Ethan Diamond and Mark Wagner debate which school should get a shot at the national title.
Miami
By Ethan Diamond
Why Miami is not a lock for the playoffs is beyond me. They’re a 10-2 team in a power conference, with their losses coming by a combined nine points to strong Louisville and SMU teams, but are not playing in their conference championship game due to a series of tiebreakers that allowed 7-5 Duke to over them.
Yes, Miami missed the playoffs last year at 10-2, but there was at least a strong argument for every team over them. There is no reason that independent Notre Dame should be ranked over the Hurricanes, for one major reason.
Miami beat them head-to-head.
When two teams have the same record, that should be the primary factor in determining which team is ranked higher. Even though that game was in Week 1, the result should still carry weight. Otherwise, what was the point in the Hurricanes scheduling the Irish?
The committee needs to recognize this, make the switch in the final rankings and have Miami ahead of Notre Dame.
Notre Dame
By Mark Wagner
Last season’s College Football Playoff runners-up deserve to be in it this year. While both the Fighting Irish and Miami have the same record, the former deserves this spot more.
The main argument against Notre Dame is that the Hurricanes defeated them in Week 1 of the regular season. However, if we look back at the schedules, Miami lost to Louisville and SMU, who aren’t even ranked in the CFP. Notre Dame’s only losses came against the Hurricanes and Texas A&M, two ranked teams.
Head-to-head, especially during Week 1, cannot be fully trusted in a playoff such as this. It was both teams’ first time playing an actual football game in over half a year and the result came down to three points. It’s unfair to assume that Miami is still better than Notre Dame because of those factors, especially considering the game occurred over three months ago.
The Fighting Irish are a different team now, and the committee realizes this. If the Hurricanes can’t even make it to the ACC championship game over Virginia and Duke, there’s no reason they should be in the College Football Playoff.
