Miami has More Than the Programs' Interest to Worry About in the CFP
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The Miami Hurricanes are playing for more than just the National Championship once they kick off against Texas A&M in the first round of the College Football Playoff.
The Hurricanes were clearly the best team in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season, but look at the conference champion, which highlights the misjudgment within the league's order.
Duke was a solid team this year with one of the best quarterbacks in the country. A silly tiebreaker rule stopped the Hurricanes from reaching the ACC Championship Game, where they would have likely dominated Virginia en route to a College Football Playoff appearance and the program's first ACC Championship.
However, while option A did not pan out, the Hurricanes were the final team in the College Football Playoff, as well as the only ACC team in the dance.
The Group of Five, which has been ridiculed for doing its job and following the bylaws set by the CFP Committee, has two teams in the dance. The SEC will likely always have five to six teams in the field, as it brought five in this year. The Big 10 has three teams, and the Big 12 matches the ACC in selections.
However, the difference between No. 4 Texas Tech and No. 10 Miami is staggering when you look at how the committee and the college football world view both leagues.
The Hurricanes need to win more for the ACC than they do for their own program.
That doesn't mean that the Canes can't win for themselves. If they see this entire thing through, they have a National Championship game in their backyard at Hard Rock Stadium with a chance to flip the college football world over.
Head coach Mario Cristobal has already reestablished the program as a contender in the CFP for years to come. The issue is whether the ACC should be taken seriously enough to have more than one team every year.
This is what the Hurricanes have to prove against the Aggies in College Station. The Hurricanes have the entire conference on their shoulders, and they will have a chance, similar to Clemson and Florida State, to prove that the ACC can be a powerhouse for college football.
The little things are already in motion thanks to Cristobal. Now the play on the field is the only way to match the work for the sake of the conference.
Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University and is the site lead for the Miami Hurricanes on SI. He can be reached at Twitter @Justice_News5.
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Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University earning a Bachelor of Arts and Science in Communications with a concentration in Print and Digital Journalism. During his time in Starkville, he spent a year as an intern working for Mississippi State On SI primarily covering basketball, football, baseball, and soccer while writing, recording, and creating multimedia stories during his tenor. Since graduating, he has assumed the role of lead staff writer for Miami Hurricanes On SI covering football, basketball, baseball, and all things Hurricanes related.