Hunter Yurachek Explains Why Notre Dame Is Ranked Ahead Of Miami

Taking the most simplistic view, Notre Dame and Miami have identical records, and on Aug. 31 the Hurricanes beat the Fighting Irish 27-24. So Miami should be ranked higher, right?

That's an argument often made in College Football Playoff debates –– and it makes some logical sense –– but of course, it's not nearly that cut and dry. Another set of CFP rankings came out Tuesday, slotting Notre Dame at No. 9, Miami at No. 13 and showing that head-to-head results aren't the only factor.

Why is Notre Dame ahead of Miami?

Notre Dame Football — Miami Hurricanes running back CharMar Brown (6) scores a touchdown against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Hard Rock Stadium. | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

The Hurricanes have performed poorly enough in their other nine games to diminish the good will they earned by beating the Irish, who've gone on an eight-game win streak since an 0-2 start.

"We really compare the losses of those two teams," CFP committee chairman Hunter Yurachek said Tuesday. "Miami has lost to two unranked teams [Louisville and SMU]. Notre Dame has lost to two teams that are ranked within our top 13 [Texas A&M and Miami]."

"So we really haven't compared those two teams. They haven't been in similar comparative pools to date. But Miami is creeping up into that range, where they will be compared to Notre Dame if something happens above them."

In addition, Notre Dame ranks higher than Miami in FPI, strength of record, strength of schedule, game control, SP+, FEI, total yards per game and points per game.

Notre Dame isn't locked into the CFP just yet

In the event that Miami catches up to Notre Dame, the Irish have reason to be concerned. The committee still clearly values head-to-head matchups, based on how it ranked a pair of 8-2 SEC teams this week.

"Well, I think you look at what happened this week when we compared Alabama and Oklahoma in a similar spot, where 8, 9 and 10, we were comparing those teams. Oklahoma obviously got the nod based on their two-point win at Alabama."

"So if Miami and Notre Dame are in a comparable tier, a comparable range, the head-to-head will be a significant data point that we will use."

Miami Hurricanes quarterback Carson Beck (11) drops back to pass against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Hard Rock Stadium. | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

That doesn't sound good for Notre Dame, but it will be difficult for Miami to catch up to the Irish. Miami has two road games remaining against Virginia Tech and Pitt, and Notre Dame has games against Syracuse and Stanford. None of these wins would greatly tip the scales in either team's direction.

The easiest way for Miami to make the CFP is by winning the ACC championship game, but it will need help to get to that point. The Hurricanes no longer control their own destiny to the conference title game after losing to Louisville and SMU.

Georgia Tech and Virginia sit atop the ACC standings at 6-1, followed by Pittsburgh and SMU at 5-1. Miami is in the next grouping with Duke at 4-2 in conference play. So the Hurricanes will have to win at Virginia Tech and at Pitt the next two weeks and hope for several losses ahead of them.

They'd also have to win a tiebreaker or two to make the championship game, and then of course, win the game to secure an automatic bid.

If Miami is unable to punch its ticket via the ACC title game, it'll have to hope for chaos among the at-large teams like No. 7 Oregon, No. 8 Oklahoma, No. 9 Notre Dame, No. 10 Alabama, No. 11 BYU and No. 12 Utah.

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