Miami's first ranking in the College Football Playoff was not what anyone expected. The Hurricanes were ranked 18th, eight spots behind a Notre Dame team they've beaten this year.
Overall, the lack of respect the committee had for Miami mirrored the lack of respect they have for the conference as a whole. There were five ACC teams ranked in the first CFP, but the highest was at No. 14 (Virginia). That number is important, because that's probably where the Hurricanes should be in the second rankings that will be released Tuesday evening.
How did Saturday shake out?
BYU was the only team in the top 10 that lost, a 29-7 thumping at the hands of Texas Tech that should drop the Cougars at least seven spots. That means Oregon, with its close win over Iowa, along with Texas, Oklahoma and Utah, who were all on bye weeks, will move up at least a slot. Notre Dame, ranked 10th, whipped Navy and might jump Oregon because the committee loves the Irish to the point of where we've been told that records and head-to-head don't matter as much.
But it's the next group where things get fun. Virginia and Louisville lost, Vanderbilt held off Auburn in overtime, Georgia Tech didn't play and USC beat Northwestern on Friday. And this is the area where I believe the committee can send a message that strength of competition matters.
Miami should jump Georgia Tech in the CFP
Since we've already established that records aren't the end all be all and there are several two-loss teams ahead of the Yellow Jackets already, there's no reason why Miami shouldn't be placed above Georgia Tech.
That means my second-10 CFP ranking (11-20) would look something like this:
11. Oklahoma
12. Utah
13. Vanderbilt
14. Miami
15. BYU
16. USC
17. Georgia Tech
18. Michigan
19. Virginia
20. Louisville
This makes Miami the highest-rated ACC team, which they should be, and moves them up the bubble considerably. The Hurricanes still need to win out and get into the ACC Championship Game for any level of comfort, but the at-large bid which seemed unlikely last week has a little more momentum.