During his postgame press conference after the 38-10 win over Syracuse, Miami head coach Mario Cristobal said, "You can only worry about the game that's in front of you, but you also know where you are according to that committee."
Miami will be focused on winning versus North Carolina State and at Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh to finish the season. Without wins in their last three games, the big picture of trying to earn a College Football Playoff berth will be meaningless.
Cristobal has stated all season that the goal for Miami is to be 1-0 every week. Miami has finished 1-0 six times during the 2025 season and 0-1 twice. The losses to Louisville and at SMU mean Miami has to rely on other results to earn a CFP berth.
Chaos in the ACC on Saturday could help Miami. Losses by Louisville and Virginia on Saturday should help Miami rise in the CFP rankings. Earning a berth in the ACC Championship game will be difficult for Miami with five teams ahead of it in the loss column. That includes SMU.
"You can only worry about the game that's in front of you, but you also know where you are according to that committee. Does that change mentality at all?...For us, we're always trying to play as well as we possibly can...Our focus is always completely on that. And as a player, as a coach, you always know what's going on outside. You know the big picture...all the crazy chaos that comes over the course of the next three and four weeks. And that's good...because it still boils down to us taking care of our business."Miami head coach Mario Cristobal
North Carolina State is 5-4 and coming off a week 11 bye. The Wolfpack needs one more win to become bowl eligible. Beating Miami would make the season for North Carolina State. Virginia Tech is 3-6 and has to win out to become bowl eligible. A win over Miami with interim head coach Philip Montgomery would also make the season for Virginia Tech.
Miami at Pittsburgh in the final game of the regular season could have an impact on the ACC race and CFP standings. Pittsburgh is currently 7-2 overall and 5-1 in the ACC. Pittsburgh hosts Notre Dame on Saturday and is at Georgia Tech on November 22 before hosting Miami.
In addition to the three big games Pittsburgh plays to conclude the season, Virginia at Duke on Saturday and Louisville at SMU on November 22 are head-to-head matchups between ACC contenders that will have a big impact on who plays in the Conference Championship Game in Charlotte.
As Cristobal said, there will be more crazy chaos over the course of the next three to four weeks. Miami needs to win out and have complete chaos to have any hope at earning a berth in the ACC Championship Game.