Miami football in CFP Top 10 helps prove ACC is competitive with SEC

The Miami football team is ranked 10th in the initial 2020 College Football Playoff rankings proving the ACC is competitive with the SEC.

The Miami football program is 10th in the initial 2020 College Football Playoff rankings. The ACC has three teams in the Top 10 and four in the top 20 including the Miami football program. Notre Dame was ranked second behind Alabama and Clemson third in the inaugural 2020 CFP rankings released on Tuesday night.

If Clemson and Notre Dame win out and the Tigers defeat the Fighting Irish in the ACC Championship Game, the ACC will have two teams in the College Football Playoff for the first time. It would be only the second time two teams from the same conference reach the CFP in the same season.

Alabama and Georgia played in the College Football Playoff Championship Game following the 2017 season. The Bulldogs are ninth in the rankings released Tuesday night despite a 5-2 record and decisive losses to Alabama and Florida. Texas A&M who defeated Florida is fifth and the Gators are sixth in the CFP rankings.

North Carolina is the fourth ACC team in the CFP rankings at 19. The ACC and SEC both have four teams in the top 20. Auburn at 22 gives the SEC five teams in the rankings. The Big 10 matched the SEC with five teams in the rankings, but just two in the top 10. Ohio State is fourth and Northwestern eighth.

The Big 10 matched the ACC and SEC with four teams in the rankings. Indiana is 12th, Wisconsin 16th and Iowa 24th. Four Big XII teams are ranked. Oklahoma is 11th, Iowa State 13th, Texas 17th and Oklahoma State 23rd. Oregon at 15 and USC at 18 are the only ranked teams from the Pac 12.

The ACC is by far the highest-rated conference this season with a 5.85 in the Simple Rating System from Sports Reference. The 4.52 Strength of Schedule also places the ACC first. The system is based on a scale of average being zero and anything above or below that is above and below average.

The SEC scored -1.35 in the simple rating system and -1.92 in strength of schedule. Without head-to-head matchups, it is difficult to ascertain which conference is better right now. Clemson has played the SEC Champion for five straight seasons in the College Football Playoff with Alabama from 2015-2018.

The Crimson Tide and Tigers split those games with Alabama twice winning in the National Championship Game. Last season, Clemson lost to LSU in the National Title Game at the Superdome in New Orleans. The matchups as they stand now will shuffle with Clemson and Notre Dame likely to play in the ACC Championship Game.