Miami and BYU are tied at No. 10 in this week's AP Top 25, a late-October pairing that is just screaming for a side-by-side look at what each has done, as well as what's left. BYU climbed up the poll after moving to 8-0 and Miami held firm at 6-1 following a rout of Stanford. Vanderbilt jumped up to No. 9 and Miami slid to No. 10 to create the tie that we now see. BYU was previously No. 11.
Resumes so far
Miami owns three headline wins and the better top-25 profile. The Hurricanes beat then-No. 6 Notre Dame in the opener, handled then-No. 18 USF, and won at then-No. 18 Florida State. The lone blemish is a three-point home loss to Louisville. Through seven games they're 6-1 overall and 2-1 in the ACC. As it currently stands, Notre Dame is Miami's only ranked win after USF fell out of the rankings due to their loss to Memphis. Florida and FSU have turned into less impressive wins since the time of play against Miami.
BYU's case is built on consistency, record and their work on the road. The Cougars are 8-0 (5-0 Big 12) with a home win over then-No. 23 Utah (now No. 24) plus road victories at Colorado and Iowa State; the latter pushed them into the top 10 on Sunday. Their offense has traveled and they've survived a double-overtime test at Arizona en route to the Big 12 lead. The undefeated record must count for something here and since Miami has the loss to Louisville on their resume, BYU should be recognized for taking care of business, even if it hasn't always been pretty.
Remaining schedules for Miami and BYU
Miami closes with five straight ACC games including this week's trip to SMU: at SMU (Nov. 1), vs. Syracuse (Nov. 8), vs. NC State (Nov. 15), at Virginia Tech (Nov. 22) and at Pitt (Nov. 29). It's manageable on paper, but three road dates will present a challenging stretch Miami has not been faced with yet this year.
BYU's remaining schedule does appear to be tougher on paper: at No. 13 Texas Tech (Nov. 8), vs. TCU (Nov. 15), at No. 17 Cincinnati (Nov. 22) and vs. UCF (Nov. 29). Two ranked opponents away from Provo give the Cougars a chance to shoot up the rankings. It also "evens out" the resumes by the end of the year.
Conference ceiling and playoff path
Under the 12-team format, the five highest-ranked conference champions receive automatic bids, and the four highest-ranked teams overall get byes. The rest are at-large bids. That keeps two straightforward paths in play: win your conference and you're virtually in or pad the resume and rely on the committee for recognition/ranking.
BYU controls the Big 12 today. At 5-0 in Big 12 play and sitting atop the conference standings, Kalani Sitake's team can punch an auto-bid by winning the Big 12. Split the two ranked road games and take the title and the Cougars are nearly certain to be seeded in the field.
Miami's route is narrower and slightly unclear. The Hurricanes need to win the ACC to lock in their spot with an auto-bid. As of right now, Miami does not control their own destiny. Even if they win out, they still need multiple teams at the top to lose just to make the ACC title game. If they go 11-1 by the end of the regular season and miss out on an appearance in Charlotte, they should still make it. But, that is just based on projections and would leave them vulnerable to getting jumped in the rankings.
On pure resume, Miami's top-end win is stronger. But, on stability, BYU's unblemished record and first place in the Big 12 is a better situation to be in. The next four weeks will settle it. Miami's job is to avoid slow starts and bank three road wins. BYU's is to convert a front-runner position into a trophy by surviving Lubbock and Cincinnati. Either way, both teams are on credible tracks to make it into the 12-team playoff bracket.