EJ Manuel makes case that Miami's best path to CFP includes Duke winning ACC title

Turns out the College Football Playoff‘s doomsday scenario could be exactly what idle No. 12 Miami needs to make the 12-team field this season, at least according to ESPN analyst EJ Manuel. The former Florida State quarterback suggested the Hurricanes’ best chances of making this year’s Playoff likely involves unranked Duke beating No. 17 Virginia in Saturday night’s ACC Championship Game in Charlotte.

Ever since a five-loss Duke (7-5, 6-2 ACC) won the ACC tiebreaker to advance to this season’s conference title game by virtue of Cal‘s stunning 38-35 upset victory over SMU last Saturday, college football pundits have debated what could happen if the Blue Devils upset the Cavaliers (10-2, 7-1 ACC) in Charlotte.

Would the College Football Playoff selection committee be forced to elevate an unranked team into the 12-team field? Or would that just open the door for two Group of Five champions to make this year’s Playoff?

Manuel, a former first-round pick in the 2013 NFL Draft out of FSU, believes the latter is far more likely. But he went on to boldly claim a Duke victory would allow the CFP selection committee to elevate the ACC’s highest-ranked team — No. 12 Miami (10-2, 6-2 ACC) — into its 12-team field as an at-large.

“I think two things could happen here. You could have an opportunity where two of the G6 (Group of Six) teams get in like a Tulane or North Texas, depending on who wins the American, and JMU if they win the Sun Belt,” Manuel said on Wednesday afternoon’s SportsCenter. “The other thing you could see is Miami leapfrogging into the Playoff from the ACC. Now, this is a bit different, because if Virginia wins, they’re in. But if Duke wins (the ACC title) as a five-loss team, I can’t see a world where (the Playoff committee) would then put Duke into the CFP. I would say, ‘Hey, committee, make the better decision and put in a team that certainly could go on and play well in the CFP.’ That should also get Miami in to the Playoff, so I’m assuming most Hurricane fans are rooting for Duke this weekend.”

Of course, just based on Tuesday night’s penultimate Playoff Top 25 rankings, that would likely also necessitate the CFP selection committee boosting idle Miami from No. 12 to No. 10, jumping over current No. 10 Notre Dame due to the Hurricanes’ head-to-head victory over the Fighting Irish in Week 1. That would also likely require No. 11 BYU to lose to No. 4 Texas Tech in Saturday’s Big 12 Championship Game.

Suffice it to say, Miami’s path to this year’s College Football Playoff would require absolute chaos breaking out, and that all begins with an unranked Duke winning the ACC championship on Saturday.