After going through a difficult roller coaster, in terms of uncertainty with contention status, Mario Cristobal expressed his gratitude and the team's preparation ahead.
It finally happened, after weeks of chaos and debate, it finally happened: the Miami Hurricanes have officially punched their ticket for the College Football Playoffs. It will be the very first time the program has cracked the bracket since its inaugural in 2014, which was also the last time a Florida football team reached the postseason, the Florida State Seminoles.
The reveal came with tons of anticipation, after the BYU Cougars and Alabama Crimson Tide both lost their respective championship game matchups in blowout fashion. It forced the Selection Committee to account for the head-to-head between the Hurricanes and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Afterwards, it gave them the edge to claim a spot and push their historic rivals out of the picture.
Chairman Hunter Yurachek elaborated on how the Selection Committee came to its conclusion:
"We felt like the way BYU performed in their championship game, a second loss to Texas Tech in a similar fashion, was worthy of Miami moving ahead of them in the rankings," he said. "Once we moved Miami ahead of BYU, then we had that side-by-side comparison that everybody had been hungering for with Notre Dame and Miami. You look at those two teams on paper and they are almost equal in their schedule strength, their common opponents, the results against common opponents, but the one metric we had to fall back on was the head-to-head. I charged the committee members to back and watch that game again because it was so far back. We got some interesting debate from our coaches on what that game looked like as we watched it. With that in mind, we gave Miami the nod over Notre Dame into that 10 spot."
Shortly after the announcement, the Indiana program announced its declination to participate in a bowl game.
Meanwhile, in Miami, Mario Cristobal expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to keep their season going, heading into the playoffs, where they will face the Texas A&M Aggies:
"Obviously, appreciate the opportunity and grateful to the CFP Committee for recognizing the Miami Hurricanes and how we've earned our opportunity," he said. "All systems go full throttle in preparation for this opportunity against an excellent Texas A&M team."
The Hurricanes concluded the regular season on a strong note, winning four straight in dominant fashion. It's a benefit from a momentum standpoint, which Cristobal is "confident" it will carry over into the playoffs:
"Their attitude, effort, and work ethic," he added. "When you approach preparation with that type of enthusiasm and energy, it typically leads to some really good things, to higher-level execution, and it really fires me up. This has been an unbelievable group to be around. They just bring it every single day. I can't wait to get to work with them."
The Hurricanes are set to face the Aggies on Dec. 20th at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time on ABC.
More Miami Hurricanes News:
- "Hurricanes' Mario Cristobal Exposes Truth About Selection Committee Rankings"
- "Shorthanded Hurricanes Excel Against Rebels' Home Crowd"
- "BREAKING: Hurricanes Stalled In College Football Playoff Rankings"