ACC commissioner Jim Phillips defends the conference in terms of College Football Playoff berths
The Miami Hurricanes are right now considered on the outside looking in when it comes to the College Football Playoff.
At the moment, they need help from other teams to earn a berth in the postseason. That led Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner Jim Phillips to state the case for the league to have two participants in the postseason.
"I have conviction and confidence in our teams, starting with Miami," Phillips told the Associated Press. "The second piece of that is the Virginia-Duke winner should absolutely be in this College Football Playoff."
The Hurricanes (10-2) are in the predicament after losing to the Louisville Cardinals and SMU Mustangs at midseason. The defeats occurred during a three-game span. That caused them to drop in the rankings. They also were unable to qualify for the ACC title game because of losses to two conference opponents.
On Saturday, Duke and Virginia play for the league championship. The winner gets an automatic CFP bid while `Canes must still wait for what else happens this weekend. Their hopes also solely rely on the CFP committee.
"We know the final rankings aren't until Sunday, so there's time for course correction by the committee," Phillips said. "The committee's made it clear that idle teams can move up in the final rankings. And we're going to continue our efforts, as there's no question Miami's a playoff team and they've earned a spot in the playoff."
UM coach Mario Cristobal has also spent the past few days stating his team's case.
“I feel strongly about our case,” Cristobal told On3 Sports. “It’s not because we are creating narrative. We are presenting facts. We played each other. We played the same teams. And we did a better job. Now we have to respectfully present the information.”
The `Canes are playing their best football of the season behind quarterback Carson Beck. After a midseason slump, where they lost to the Louisville Cardinals and SMU Mustangs, they finished the season with four straight victories. Still, it wasn't enough to qualify them to make the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game for a chance to earn the automatic bid.
"Our quarterback is playing, hard to compare anybody else in the country playing the kind the caliber of football that he's playing," Cristobal said. "Our defensive and offensive lines have been absolutely dominant, and they showed it from game one all the way to the game now, forcing opponents to have their worst graded performances against our fronts. So I think all that stuff, just it speaks loudly. And again, it's not only eye test, it's the field test."
Shandel Richardson is the publisher of MiamiRoundtable. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com