How Would a College Football Playoff Have Impacted Miami In Past Seasons?
1990 Season
The end of the 1990 regular season finished with Colorado ranked atop the polls at 10-1-1, Georgia Tech was second at 10-0-1 and Texas was third at 10-1. After that was a mess like rush hour. Houston and Louisville were the only other teams with one loss.
The Cougars were ninth in the final poll and 10-1 and the Cardinals 18th at 9-1-1. Houston might have had an outside chance at the playoff, the Cardinals would have been highly unlikely. Behind Texas was a mess from four through 11 in the final poll.
| 15 | 1990-12-04 | 4 | Miami (FL) (9-2-0) | 3 | 1 | Ind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | 1990-12-04 | 5 | Notre Dame (9-2-0) | 7 | 2 | Ind |
| 15 | 1990-12-04 | 6 | Florida State (9-2-0) | 8 | 2 | Ind |
| 15 | 1990-12-04 | 7 | Penn State (9-2-0) | 10 | 3 | Ind |
| 15 | 1990-12-04 | 8 | Washington (9-2-0) | 9 | 1 | Pac-10 |
| 15 | 1990-12-04 | 9 | Houston (10-1-0) | 11 | 2 | SWC |
| 15 | 1990-12-04 | 10 | Tennessee (8-2-2) | 12 | 2 | SEC |
| 15 | 1990-12-04 | 11 | Florida (9-2-0) | 6 | 5 | SEC |
Texas’ only loss on the season was to the Buffaloes who were ranked 20th at the time they played. If there had been a BCS Championship game it likely would have been Colorado and Georgia Tech. Colorado tied Tennessee in their opener and lost to Illinois later in the season.
Although Notre Dame defeated Miami, they lost to unranked Stanford and to USC, who was 18th at the time they played. Florida State’s two losses were to the Hurricanes and then number five Auburn. Penn State began the season with losses to Texas and then number six USC, then won nine straight to finish the regular season.
Washington had losses to Colorado and an unranked UCLA. Florida’s losses were to Tennessee and FSU. With two losses and two ties, It’s unlikely Tennessee would have gotten in. Washington won the PAC-Ten, but their losses would likely have knocked them out.
In all likelihood, it would have been between Miami and the Irish for the fourth spot in the playoff with Colorado, Texas and GA Tech already in. It would have been controversial no matter which of those two would have been selected.
The end of the season did provoke controversy and led to the creation of the Bowl Coalition which was the forerunner to the BCS which led to the playoff. Colorado beat Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl and the Yellow Jackets defeated Nebraska in the Citrus Bowl and CU and GT split the National Championship.
Miami’s two losses were to Notre Dame and BYU.