Miami football could play in Orange Bowl due to ACC mediocrity
The Miami football team could play in the Orange Bowl Game for the second time in three years. Earning a bid to the game at Hard Rock Stadium this season would be due to the mediocrity in the ACC.
The Miami Football team is 6-4 through their first 10 games of 2019. The Hurricanes have to win their final two games of the regular season to finish 8-4 and have a chance at playing in the second Orange Bowl in their last three seasons. Miami lost 34-24 to Wisconsin in the 2017 Orange Bowl following a 10-2 regular season.
This season the chance for the Miami football team to earn a bid to the Orange Bowl is more a result of the mediocrity of the ACC than anything the Hurricanes have accomplished in 2019. Clemson is ranked third in the College Football Playoff Rankings and a near-lock to stay there.
The second-best team in the ACC is contracted to the Orange Bowl with Clemson surely bound for the College Football Playoff. The determining factor for which ACC team will be chosen for the Orange Bowl is the highest-ranked team in the College Football Playoff rankings. Clemson is the only ACC currently in the CFP Top 25.
Miami Hurricanes Football
Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports reported if no ACC teams other than Clemson are ranked in the final College Football Playoff Top 25 poll the Orange Bowl Board of Directors will choose the ACC representative in the Orange Bowl. Dodd stated that would likely be the first time an unranked team is selected for a New Year’s Six Bowl game.
It is a tricky situation for the Orange Bowl to be in. Using the Top 25 to select a team is built from a consensus opinion. The Miami based Orange Bowl Board of Directors choosing the Hurricanes would create opinions that the Miami football team being chosen to play at Hard Rock Stadium would be subjective.
Dodd spoke to Orange Bowl CEO Eric Poms about the difficult of upsetting the teams that were not chosen for the Orange Bowl. Pittsburgh, Virginia or Virginia Tech is likely to be the ACC Coastal Champion and face Clemson in the ACC Championship game in Charlotte. Miami defeated Pitt and Virginia but lost to Virginia Tech.
"“It’s a great question, (teams being upset) We are hopeful, obviously, with [three, (including conference title games)] weekends of football still to go there is a path for some team from the ACC to get back in there (top 25). I don’t know what would drive our thought process,” Poms said. “We haven’t convened a group to do that."
Brett McMurphy of Stadium projects Miami to play Alabama in the Orange Bowl. If Virginia Tech wins the Coastal Division it is difficult to see a path for the Hurricanes to play in the Orange Bowl over the Hokies. Virginia Tech will have beaten the Miami football team and finished ahead of them in the Coastal Division.
The ESPN Football Power Index will not be used to choose a team for the Orange Bowl, but it goes far more in-depth, using metrics to rank teams. Miami is currently 26th in the FPI. If the Hurricanes win their final two games they will surely move up. Virginia is 38th, Virginia Tech 49th and Pitt 52nd in the FPI.
The ACC has just 1 team in the CFP rankings for the 2nd straight week (No. 3 Clemson).
— Jason Starrett (@starrettjason) November 20, 2019
Before last week, no Power 5 conference had fewer than 2 teams ranked at any point in the history of the committee rankings.
The problem for the Miami football team is that they do not have any high profile games remaining this season. The Hurricanes play FIU on Saturday and end the regular season on November 30 at Duke. Virginia plays at Virginia Tech on the 29th, the day after Thanksgiving. The Cavaliers are 28th in the AP Media Poll.
Pittsburgh was 31st in the AP Poll with Miami and Virginia Tech not receiving any votes. Virginia Tech is 26th in the Coaches Poll this week with Virginia 30th and Pittsburgh 33rd. The Hokies and Panthers play this weekend. Miami will almost definitely pass one or two of those three teams depending on the results.
Manny Diaz has Miami focused on final two games. dark. Next
The best-case scenario for Miami would be for Virginia Tech to lose twice. A tie with the Hokies puts them in the ACC Championship game and Miami doesn’t have much of a debate for going to the Orange Bowl over the Hokies even if they get throttled as will be expected against Clemson. The wins over Pitt and UVA favor Miami.