Miami leads ESPN’s week 12 anger index as CFP committee looks the other way

David Hale of ESPN ranked the Hurricanes first in his "Week 12 Anger Index: Why a No. 15 ranking isn't good enough for Miami." The thesis for Hale is Miami's resume compared to teams ahead of them in the College Football Playoff rankings and the Hurricanes' win over Notre Dame.

Miami is 15th in the College Football Playoff rankings released on Tuesday night. Notre Dame, Texas, Utah and Vanderbilt are the teams ahead of Miami in the CFP rankings that Hale took issue with. Hale provided examples of other teams that are ranked ahead of opponents they defeated to compare Miami and Notre Dame.

Miami's resume compares favorably to Notre Dame, Texas, Oklahoma, Utah and Vanderbilt, the two-loss teams ahead of the Hurricanes in the most recent CFP rankings. Notre Dame and Utah are the two most nonsensical teams ranked ahead of Miami.

Miami owns the win over Notre Dame and both teams are 7-2. Utah, with worse metrics than Miami, is also 7-2 and is two spots higher in the CFP rankings. Miami has two wins over teams in the CFP Top 25, with victories over 24th-ranked South Florida and Notre Dame.

"The Hurricanes' metrics are solid. They're 13th in SP+, 13th in strength of record, have four wins vs. FPI top-35 teams (i.e. the top 25% of FBS) -- more than anyone but Texas A&M and Alabama...have the same record as Notre Dame and hold the head-to-head victory over the Irish.

The committee, however, has Notre Dame ranked ninth and Miami 15th.

It's nonsensical on its face, and worse when you consider the committee also has Texas (with a worse loss than either of Miami's), Utah (just one FPI top-35 win) and Vanderbilt (four spots behind Miami in FPI) all ranked higher, too."

David Hale, ESPN

Miami scheduled one of the toughest non-conference slates nationally this season. When Miami scheduled Florida, it could not have expected that the Gators would be trending for their third losing season in as many years. South Florida balanced that somewhat by having a breakout season.

Miami is two possessions away from being undefeated and the CFP committee has Notre Dame five spots higher because the Fighting Irish have looked impressive against significantly inferior teams over their last seven games. Notre Dame has lost two of the three most important games on its schedule.

The Texas loss Hale referred to was 29-21 at Florida. Miami defeated Florida 26-7 and held the Gators to 141 yards of offense. Utah beat 25th-ranked (in the CFP) Cincinnati. Cincinnati is 34th in the FPI, as Hale referenced as the lone Utah win against a team ranked that high in the ESPN metric.

Miami and Vanderbilt are nearly even in the FPI. Vanderbilt is 20th in strength of schedule, while Miami is 39th. Vanderbilt beat Virginia Tech 44-20. Miami is at Virginia Tech on November 22. Virginia Tech is the sole common opponent between Miami and Vanderbilt.

Texas and Vanderbilt could be eliminated when the last CFP rankings are released on December 7. Texas is at Georgia on Saturday and hosts Texas A&M in the final game of the regular season on November 28. Vanderbilt is at Tennessee on November 29 to conclude its regular season.