ESPN just ranked every College Football Playoff team in history, and Miami landed in a spot that will raise some eyebrows in Coral Gables. In Bill Connelly's new list of all 64 CFP participants, the 2025 Hurricanes check in at No. 53, sandwiched between the 2024 Indiana Hoosiers and this year's Texas A&M Aggies. For a 10-2 team with top-10 efficiency numbers and a defense that has looked like a title unit for most of the fall, that feels wildly conservative at best.
Miami Hurricanes are better than No. 53 on the CFP all-time teams list
"The Hurricanes started and finished the season looking the part and overcame a midseason funk that included timid, turnover-plagued losses to Louisville and SMU. A smart, aggressive defense gives them the upside to compete with anyone, and the offense enjoys long runs of efficiency thanks to quarterback Carson Beck and receiver Malachi Toney. Do the Canes have the close-game chops required to make a run? We'll see."Bill Connelly
At No. 53, Miami is behind teams like 2024 Arizona State, which lost in the quarterfinals, 2014 Florida State, which was blown out 59-20 by Oregon, and 2018 Notre Dame, which lost 30-3 to Clemson in the Cotton Bowl. Connelly's list shows how many CFP teams have been far more flawed or outclassed once they reached the playoffs. A Miami team that has not taken a playoff snap yet is already being put in that bucket.
Connelly's biggest case against Miami is the one every Canes fan already knows by heart. In the two losses, they turned it over way too many times and folded when it mattered. QB Carson Beck played awful and despite the defense keeping things competitive, it wasn't enough.
Now, what is interesting about these rankings, and the distinction between Miami and the teams mentioned, is the barrier of entry. The list does, and should, scew the way of the schools in the 4-team CFP era. That certainly adds a little wrinkle to the rankings and is something that rightfully dropped Miami in this.
2024/25 CFP teams ranked ahead of Miami
These are just the 2024 and 2025 playoff teams slotted above the Canes.
- No. 9: 2024 Ohio State (10-2)
- No. 16: 2025 Indiana (13-0)
- No. 22: 2025 Ohio State (11-1)
- No. 23: 2024 Oregon (13-1)
- No. 25: 2024 Notre Dame (11-2)
- No. 30: 2025 Texas Tech (11-1)
- No. 32: 2025 Oregon (11-1)
- No. 33: 2025 Georgia (12-1)
- No. 34: 2024 Georgia (11-3)
- No. 36: 2024 Texas (13-3)
- No. 39: 2024 Penn State (13-3)
- No. 47: 2025 Ole Miss (11-1)
- No. 50: 2025 Texas A&M (11-1)
- No. 51: 2024 Tennessee (10-3)
- No. 52: 2024 Arizona State (11-3)
2024 Clemson (63), 2024 SMU (62), 2025 Alabama (58), 2025 Oklahoma (57) and 2024 Indiana (54) are all behind Miami.
G5 teams ranked ahead of Miami
- (No. 46) 2021 Cincinnati: AAC Bearcats team that went 13-1 and beat Notre Dame. They lost to Alabama in the semifinal.
2025 Tulane (64), 2024 Boise State (61), 2025 James Madison (60) are all behind Miami.
Miami gets the chance to move up the rankings soon
To his credit, Connelly admits the whole exercise is a snapshot. He notes that the rankings for the 2025 playoff participants "will obviously shift in the future" once the games actually play out. Miami has the chance to change it's ranking, starting with the first-round trip to Texas A&M.