Most Hurricane fans probably didn't have support fromManny Diaz on their bingo card.
But chalk up the former Hurricanes coach as another figure that believes Miami should be in the College Football Playoff 12-team bracket and finds it troubling that they are still ranked two spots behind Notre Dame despite holding a head-to-head win over the Irish. Diaz can help the Hurricanes' cause this weekend when he leads the Duke Blue Devils into the ACC Championship Game (more on that later).
“Miami should be in the playoff. And we’re fussing at rankings because the rankings are not paying attention to the head-to-head.”
— Andy Staples (@AndyStaples) December 3, 2025
— Duke coach Manny Diaz pic.twitter.com/RGlrmDlXPJ
Diaz speaks up for the Hurricanes
After being asked by Andy Staples about the tiebreaker system that has the 7-5 Blue Devils in the championship game instead of the 10-2 Hurricanes, Diaz worked around a clear answer to that problem and focused on the rankings that have left Miami on the outside of the playoff bracket.
"Here's the irony, the people that want to change it and want to say, 'Hey, why don't we use rankings to break the tie'?" Diaz said. "But the irony is those are the same people that are mad at the rankings that have Miami out of the playoff. Miami should be in the playoff."
Diaz continues by pointing out that Miami should be ahead of Notre Dame because head-to-head is the best way to determine these things.
If Miami's victory over Notre Dame isn't really supposed to count because the game was played over three months ago -- maybe the committee can tell me at what point in the season games do start to count.
— Mike Lupica (@MikeLupica) December 3, 2025
"What is the most objective way to rank two teams, when they played, and Miami beat Notre Dame. They should be ahead of Notre Dame," Diaz continued.
Miami and Duke both have a 6-2 playoff record and through the ACC's tiebreaker of record of conference opponents, the Blue Devils get the nod.
Duke could do Miami a huge solid this weekend
Miami has a few paths to get into the playoffs, which was made slightly more complicated by moving Alabama past Notre Dame, despite struggling in a win against a 5-7 Auburn team. But the Hurricanes' path weighs heavily on Duke beating Virginia this Saturday.
It's unlikely that Duke would get into the playoffs, even with a win in the conference championship game. But beating Virginia would clear the way for Miami to be the only deserving ACC team, if the committee feels like they have to take a team from the conference to avoid even more criticism.