Heather Dinich predicts Miami will reach CFP after loss at Syracuse

A 42-38 loss at Syracuse with a spot in the conference championship would almost certainly eliminate the Miami Hurricanes from college football, right?

In the wise words of the legendary Lee Corso: Not so fast, my friend.

Anything about Miami losing a must-win game spells the end of its CFP hopes, or so we thought. Maybe the Hurricanes could have sneaked in if they had taken care of business in the Carrier Dome and then promptly lost a close game to SMU in Charlotte.

But that is not the reality they live in. And yet, according to ESPN’s Heather Dinich, that shouldn’t matter. The same senior college football writer who was criticized for trying to get a hypothetical three-loss Georgia team into the CFP predicts the Hurricanes will make the 12 teams dance despite losses to Syracuse and Georgia Tech.

Heather Dinich predicts Miami will make the playoffs.

She believes this committee will highlight Miami’s offense and close losses. pic.twitter.com/etoZeY3sFF

— NMD Grant (@NMDgrant) December 1, 2024

“This is the biggest question for the selection committee on Tuesday night, whether Miami is in or not,” she said Sunday. “And in my list this week, I projected them at No. 11 and still in the College Football Playoff because this selection committee likes this offense and Cam Ward. They like close losses – that was on the way.

“I just have a feeling that the chairman of the selection committee, Warde Manuel, will talk about these narrow defeats like he has done with other teams. And they pointed that out when they talked about Miami in the loss to Georgia Tech earlier this season. For me, the Canes are still there – at least for now.”

While NFL Draft analysts like The Ringer’s Todd McShay, formerly of ESPN Lore, are excited by the prospect of seeing Cam Ward and other Miami offensive stars on the sport’s biggest stage against better defensive competition, he questions the logic to reward a team with such fatal results.

From an NFL Draft perspective, I would like to see the offensive prospects of Cam Ward and his fellow Canes compared to better defensive competition. But what does the committee do if THIS defense is rewarded with a spot in the CFP? https://t.co/vLmRbJNlvu

— Todd McShay (@McShay13) December 1, 2024

These are the same conceivable deficiencies that cost Miami defeats to two conference opponents without giving them a chance of reaching the CFP themselves.

And if the committee decides to ignore these shortcomings in favor of ratings that Cam Ward and co. could A draw could set a troubling precedent that puts style over substance in the playoff race.

(NMD scholarship)