Copying and pasting from the other thread, but here’s how. Obvious bad actors were influencing the committee to make sure the ACC had at least one representative in the playoff:
ALL of these moves happened over the past several weeks, all of which were every bit as questionable as the last minute leap frog over ND, and ALL of which directly led to Miami / ND being nearly side by side in the rankings for the final week:
1) From Week 10 to Week 11:
- Miami (7-2) goes from #18 to #15
- Miami goes 5 spots ahead of a Louisville team that’s also 7-2, and that Louisville team beat them in Coral Gables.
- Miami passes 8-1 Georgia Tech, who didn’t even play that weekend
- Miami goes 4 spots ahead of 8-2 Virginia, who had a road win over that 7-2 Louisville team above.
2) From Week 11 to Week 12:
- Miami goes from #15 to #13
- Miami leapfrogs Vanderbilt, who didn’t play that weekend. Vandy had the same record as Miami, but had that record against the #25 SOS whereas Miami was playing against the #45 SOS. Really no justification at all for this move.
- This happens from no discernible data other than Miami beating NC State at home. NC State finished 7-5, in the awful ACC, and at no point was anywhere near the CFP rankings.
- Meanwhile, ND stays at #9. Oklahoma moves ahead of them all the way from the #11 spot to #8 from the Bama win. This one was understandable but still a bit questionable. Bama falls right behind them to #10, which becomes important later.
Week 12 to Week 13
- Miami moves up AGAIN over a team with the same record, without that team losing. This time it’s Utah…a team with no bad losses.
- Vanderbilt somehow does not move past Utah in spite of having a superior profile as well.
- Miami now at #12, ND at #9
Week 13 to Week 14
- Remember when Bama fell back behind ND after OU game? Now, suddenly Bama jumps back ahead of ND, from nothing other than barely scraping by a bad Auburn team with an interim coach.
- Meanwhile, Texas beats Texas A&M, and now has wins over two CFP teams in OU and Texas A&M (both better than any Miami win) Yes they are 9-3, but have that record strictly due to scheduling Ohio State on the road instead of a Sun Belt or FCS school. Regardless, they do not get the same favorable treatment Miami got a few weeks prior with Georgia Tech and Virginia, and later on with BYU.
- ND falls back to #10, Miami still at #12.
Week 14 to Week 15
- Miami and ND do not play, and no previous opponent of either team plays.
- Bama falls back zero spots after getting absolutely pummeled by UGA, when that would have allowed ND to move back up to #9. BYU doesn’t get the same treatment.
- Miami still moves up two spots from #12 to #10.
- ND moves back one spot to #11 as has been discussed ad nauseum.
- What has not been discussed is this, which is 17ing nuts: Miami also passed 11-2 BYU. BYU had a better record, a stronger SOS (#22 vs. #45), no bad losses, and a win over Utah that was every bit as good as Miami’s win over ND. You can explain the Miami vs. ND somewhat based on H2H. You cannot explain this one at all.
Add it all up, there are NINE other completely unjustifiable moves that either directly benefitted Miami or directly hurt ND. All of these happened over a period where neither team lost a game, or picked up a quality win. Incompetence and idiocy is random. A baffling shuffle happens once, a tad suspicious but maybe just a mistake. 9 or 10 times? GTFO. This was calculated. I don’t see how any objective person can look at all those facts and reach any other conclusion.
