How Would a College Football Playoff Have Impacted Miami In Past Seasons?
1991 Season
The 1991 Season was the second in a row that finished with a split National Championship. Miami and Washington both finished the regular season undefeated. The Hurricanes began the season third in the polls and Washington fourth. Florida State was one and Michigan two.
The Hurricanes moved up to second after the third week the polls came out FSU and Miami would stay one and two until their epic week 12 showdown. The Wolverines dropped after the Seminoles crushed them 51-31 in week three at Michigan Stadium. Washington and Michigan would flip-flop three and four in the polls after week six.
Miami moved up to number one after one of the most memorable victories in school history. Miami had lost their meeting with Florida State in Tallahassee two years prior and was trying to make amends on their march to a national championship.
After taking a late 17-16 lead, the Seminoles drove downfield to set up a potential game-winning field goal. The attempt became the famous wide right I, gave the Hurricanes the win and the nation’s number one ranking.
They went on to the Orange Bowl where they defeated Nebraska 22-0 to capture the school’s fourth title in nine seasons. Washington also finished undefeated after beating one-loss Michigan 34-12 in the Rose Bowl. The playoff after Miami and Washington would have been interesting.
Florida State lost its final regular season game to Florida almost certainly knocking out the Seminoles. The Final AP rankings had six teams below Miami and Washington with one loss without a tie. Florida’s lone loss was to then number 18 Syracuse who was 16 in the final regular-season poll.
FSU and Penn State were ranked behind Michigan despite their two losses. The Nittany Lions had losses to USC and the Hurricanes. Iowa’s only loss was at home to Michigan 43-2. Alabama also had just one loss, but it was a 35-0 defeat to the Gators.
With its lone loss to unranked Tulsa, it’s hard to imagine that Texas A&M would have received a bid and East Carolina has to be looked at like Western Michigan is this year as being on the outside looking in. It would have been a mess sorting through the final team but the guess is that it would have been Florida.
With a number three ranking going into the bowls, the matchups would likely have been Miami against Michigan and Florida versus Washington.
| 15 | 1991-12-02 | 1 | Miami (FL) (11-0-0) | 1 | Big East | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | 1991-12-02 | 2 | Washington (11-0-0) | 2 | Pac-10 | |
| 15 | 1991-12-02 | 3 | Florida (10-1-0) | 5 | 2 | SEC |
| 15 | 1991-12-02 | 4 | Michigan (10-1-0) | 4 | Big Ten | |
| 15 | 1991-12-02 | 5 | Florida State (10-2-0) | 3 | 2 | Ind |
| 15 | 1991-12-02 | 6 | Penn State (10-2-0) | 6 | Ind | |
| 15 | 1991-12-02 | 7 | Iowa (10-1-0) | 7 | Big Ten | |
| 15 | 1991-12-02 | 8 | Alabama (10-1-0) | 8 | SEC | |
| 15 | 1991-12-02 | 9 | Texas A&M (10-1-0) | 10 | 1 | SWC |
| 15 | 1991-12-02 | 10 | Tennessee (9-2-0) | 9 | 1 | SEC |
| 15 | 1991-12-02 | 11 | Nebraska (9-1-1) | 11 | Big 8 | |
| 15 | 1991-12-02 | 12 | East Carolina (10-1-0) | 12 | Ind |
A BCS title game would have clearly been Miami and Washington.