Miami enters the final week of the regular season 9-2 and No. 12 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, sitting behind BYU, Alabama and Notre Dame, while just ahead of Utah, Vanderbilt and Michigan. The path to Charlotte and the 12-team playoff is narrow, but it is also very possible. Here's what to keep an eye on in Week 14.
Miami needs to beat Pitt (obviously)
Step one is to beat Pittsburgh. Miami's final regular season game kicks off at noon Eastern on Saturday on ABC. It's a top-25 matchup between the No. 12 Hurricanes and No. 22 Panthers (8-3 and also alive in the ACC race). A win here gets Mario Cristobal's team to 10-2 and keeps both the ACC title and at-large CFP bids open. A loss would end both.
What to watch in the ACC
The ACC standings are tight at the top: SMU, Pittsburgh and Virginia are each 6-1 in conference play, Georgia Tech is 6-2, and Miami and Duke are 5-2. The Hurricanes reach the ACC Championship Game if they handle Pitt and at least two of Duke, SMU and Virginia lose on Saturday. That means Miami fans turn into temporary fans of Wake Forest, Cal and Virginia Tech.
If ACC chaos does not happen, the Hurricanes will then hope at least three of the following five contenders lose: Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Alabama, BYU and Utah.
The afternoon window and nightcap
At 3:30 p.m. Eastern, No. 8 Oklahoma hosts LSU on ABC. Later Saturday night, No. 10 Alabama goes to Auburn in the Iron Bowl on ABC. Losses by the Sooners and Crimson Tide would essentially eliminate a team that is currently projected an at-large spot.
BYU is big too. The Cougars are 10-1 and No. 11, one spot ahead of Miami, and host UCF. A Knights upset would cause chaos in the Big 12 and help Miami out. In similar fashion, Kansas upsetting Utah would have a positive effect on Miami's outlook.
The other obvious game is Notre Dame-Stanford. It might be a long shot... but this one is self-explanatory. It's at 10:30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN.
The fan guide is simple: hope for chaos, root for upsets in front of Miami, and above all else, take care of business at Pitt. Without that, nothing else matters.