Miami has an average projected seed of 2.6 in the College Football Playoff among the 10 ESPN writers predicting the 12-team field published early on Sunday morning. Nine of the 10 ESPN CFP writers project Miami to be a two or three seed after week five.
ESPN SP+ creator Bill Connelly, who has Miami fifth in his CFP projections, is the only writer on the panel to have the Hurricanes outside the top three. Miami was on a bye in week five after winning all four of its regular-season non-conference games for the third consecutive season.
If Miami is a top four seed in the CFP, they would earn a bye to the quarterfinals and likely play their first 2025 postseason game in the Orange Bowl. The 2026 National Championship Game will be played on January 19 at Hard Rock Stadium.
Texas Tech appears in the Miami quarter of the bracket four times, which is the most among the ESPN CFP writers. The Red Raiders are projected as the sixth seed three times and the 11th seed once when they are predicted to be in the same quarter of the bracket as Miami.
Writer | Miami CFP Seed | Opponent |
|---|---|---|
Andrea Adelson | 2 | 7) Texas A&M or 10) Georgia Tech |
Kyle Bonagura | 3 | 6) Texas Tech or 11) Iowa St. |
Bill Connelly | 5 | 12) Memphis |
Eli Lederman | 3 | 6) Texas A&M vs. 11) Texas Tech |
Max Olson | 3 | 6) Mississippi vs 11) IA St. |
Adam Rittenberg | 2 | 7) Indiana vs. 10) Georgia |
Mark Schlabach | 3 | 6) Texas Tech vs. 11) Penn State |
Jake Trotter | 2 | 7) Oklahoma vs. 10) Georgia |
Paolo Uggetti | 3 | 6) Texas Tech vs. 11) Iowa St. |
Dave Wilson | 2 | 7) Texas A&M vs. 10) Georgia |
Texas A&M is projected in the same quarter of the bracket three times with Miami. The Aggies are projected as a seventh seed twice and sixth seed once in the same quarter of the bracket as Miami. Miami and Texas A&M split a home-and-home series in 2022 and 2023.
The other intriguing matchup would be Georgia, which is in the same quarter of the bracket as Miami. Georgia is twice projected as a seven seed when on the same quarter as Miami. The Bulldogs would play at home in that scenario and, with a win, would play against their former quarterback, Carson Beck.
Beck was 24-3 as the starting QB at Georgia in 2023 and 2024 before transferring to Miami for the 2025 season. Georgia twice played in the SEC Championship with Beck as the starting QB. Beck missed Georgia's CFP appearance last season after suffering a torn UCL in the SEC Championship Game.