Mack Rhoades explains College Football Playoff ranking for Miami

With the second College Football Playoff rankings being released Tuesday evening, there was a lot of discussion about the ACC and Miami. The conference has somewhat cannibalized itself this season, with no team unbeaten in league play and four teams tied for first place in the standings.

Surprisingly, the committee chose the Hurricanes, a team that already has two conference losses, as the top-ranked ACC school at No. 15. Georgia Tech (8-1, 5-1 ACC) was in the spot right behind Miami at No. 16.

CFP committee chair Mack Rhoades joined ESPN on Tuesday evening shortly after the rankings were announced. He addressed the ranking for Miami and how the committee landed on it in that spot.

“Miami, I think you said it Rece, we had some teams lose,” Rhoades said. “The conversation has been with Miami about their consistency. Their consistency especially on offense. They’ve been really, really good on defense. Obviously, the head-to-head with Notre Dame comes up, so a lot of conversation about Notre Dame. So all of those things played into it. We’ve got great respect for Miami. You think about the eye test, they’re really talented both sides of the ball. Just need to be a little more consistent on the offense.”

The Hurricanes (7-2, 3-2) came in ranked behind five other two-loss teams, including one that they beat earlier this season in Notre Dame. However, it seems that Rhoades and the rest of the committee docked them for poor offensive performances in their two losses thus far, including a game against Louisville in which Carson Beck threw four interceptions.

Miami also might not even get the opportunity to compete for the ACC Championship. There are currently six other schools ranked ahead of it in the conference standings and it needs at least four of them to lose in order to even have a chance.

It would be interesting to see what the committee would do if Miami doesn’t play in the ACC title game but still finishes with two losses. As things currently stand, it doesn’t look like the Hurricanes would make it. But plenty can change with a few weeks still left to go.

Miami might get one more shot at a College Football Playoff top 25 win when it faces No. 22 Pittsburgh to close out the season, if that ranking holds. But there won’t be a ton more resume-boosting opportunities and the Hurricanes will most have to rely on luck to hope that things fall their way.