ESPN College Gameday analyst Desmond Howard picks Miami for CFP
In the first ESPN College Gameday of 2024 from Dublin on Saturday analyst Desmond Howard picked Miami to win the ACC and earn the third seed in the inaugural College Football Playoff. Howard picked Oregon and Georgia ahead of Miami as the top two seeds and Utah as the fourth seed to earn the other first-round bye.
Howard projects sixth-seeded Mississippi to host 11th-seed Notre Dame in the first round with the winner playing Miami. The other projections by Howard are 12th seed Liberty at fifth seed Texas, ninth seed Oklahoma at eighth-seeded Michigan and 10th seed Clemson and seventh-seeded Ohio State.
Liberty, Miami, Mississippi and Utah would be the only four of the eight teams new to the College Football Playoff. The highest-ranked Group of Five team will always be guaranteed a College Football Playoff berth. The four highest-ranked conference winners will receive a bue in the first round of the CFP.
The four first round games will be played at campus sites. In Howard's scenario, Miami would play in the quarterfinals at either the Fiesta, Peach, Rose or Sugar Bowl. The Fiesta Bowl will be played on New Year's Eve with the Peach, Rose and Sugar to be played on New Year's Day.
The crew makes their CFP predictions before the season gets underway 🏆 pic.twitter.com/x39PM7EgkG
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) August 24, 2024
The College Football Playoff semifinals will be held on Thursday, January 9 in the Orange Bowl Game and Friday, January 10 at the Cotton Bowl at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The College Football Playoff National Championship will be played on Monday, January 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Next. How Miami compares in ESPN power rankings to national polls. How Miami compares in ESPN power rankings to national polls. dark
Miami begins the 2024 season on August 31 at Florida with a 3:30 PM kickoff on ABC. The Hurricanes received a big boost on Saturday. Tenth-ranked Florida State lost 24-21 on a walk-off field goal to unranked Georgia Tech in Dublin. Florida State plays at Miami in a critical ACC game on October 26.