CFP committee put Miami ahead of SMU because of performance this year

Miami fell five spots to ninth in the second 2024 College Football Playoff rankings released on Tuesday but remained in the top four seeds as the highest-ranked ACC team. The dominance of Miami's offense for most of the 2024 season impressed the committee per chairman Warde Manuel.

Manuel did mention that the committee evaluates each week individually. SMU was on a bye last weekend while Miami was losing 28-23 at Georgia Tech. Miami remained first nationally averaging 45.0 points per game and led the nation with 544.8 yards per game.

Per the ESPN Football Power Index Miami has the 39 toughest schedule nationally and the 54th most difficult remaining schedule. SMU has the 81st most difficult schedule and 34th toughest remaining strength of schedule in 2024. The four highest conference champions will receive byes in the CFP.

Miami and SMU both control their paths to the ACC Championship game. Miami will earn a berth in the ACC Championship game with wins over Wake Forest and at Syracuse in the final two games. SMU finishes the season versus Boston College, at Virginia and against California.

"We obviously have factored in who they played, who they've beat throughout the season, and so we just felt that in looking at Miami and SMU that Miami -- their offense is very dominant in terms of how they've been winning. Haven't been as consistent defensively...we've been impressed by both. Just based on their body of work, the committee had the discussions, the feeling was that Miami was ahead of SMU in terms of their performance this year."

- CFP Committee Chair Warde Manuel

SMU reportedly only needs to win two of its last three based on tiebreakers to advance to the ACC Championship Game. Clemson needs Miami to lose once more to have a chance to earn an ACC Championship game berth. Miami would not likely an a CFP berth with two losses unless it was to SMU in the ACC Championship Game.

Louisville who is 19th in the CFP rankings is the biggest win for Miami and SMU. Neither Miami nor SMU plays Clemson this season, Miami won 52-45 at Louisville on October 19. SMU won 34-27 at Louisville on October 5. Expect common opponents to be a key part of the evaluation process for the CFP.

If the season projects as expected, Miami and SMU will compete for a spot in the CFP on the field in Charlotte on December 7. The question for the CFP committee involving the runner-up in the ACC will be if they will take a second from the conference.