ACC Notebook: The curious case of Miami

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What to make of the Miami Hurricanes? With the latest College Football Playoff rankings coming out, Miami sits at No. 13, just out of the 12-team field, and is the highest-ranked member of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

With each of the Power Four conferences getting an automatic qualifier, one would think that would be good for Miami. Wrong.

As it stands, there are four teams — Georgia Tech, Virginia, SMU and Pitt — with one loss in conference play. If (and it’s a big if) Georgia Tech beats Pittsburgh on Saturday and Virginia beats Virginia Tech next week, those two teams will meet in Charlotte for the ACC Championship.

Just for the ‘Canes to play in that game, they would need to win out, have Virginia, Georgia Tech and SMU lose their remaining games and have Duke lose one of its final two.

That’s just for the automatic qualifier. Miami could work its way in as an at-large. But, where do you put them? Notre Dame — which lost in Miami in the opener — also stands at 9-2 and is four spots ahead of Miami at No. 9.

The head of the CFP selection committee said Miami just needs to win out and good things will happen. It has Virginia Tech and Pitt to close out the regular season. Could any of it help them move up and leapfrog teams?

It’s confusing and you can get lost trying to keep up, and there are still two more weeks of brackets before we know the final 12

As for the rest of the conference:

Game of the Week

Pittsburgh (9-3, 5-1 ACC) at No. 16 Georgia Tech (9-1, 6-1 ACC), Saturday, 7 p.m. ET/6 CT, ESPN

What a difference a week makes. If the Panthers had defeated Notre Dame, there would have been a Top 25 showdown in Atlanta this week.

The simplest outcome from this game is the Yellow Jackets winning. They win, they’re headed to Charlotte. Lose? It opens up a can of worms that a number of teams could jump into the title game.

It’s the ACC finale for Georgia Tech. It wraps up the regular season against Georgia next week. But who shows up? The Yellow Jackets are 1-1 in their last two weeks — a 48-36 loss to NC State on Nov. 1, followed by escaping 1-10 Boston College last week with a 36-34 win.

The game could be a slugfest, too. Pittsburgh leads the ACC in scoring offense (37.2 points per game) and Georgia Tech is third at 36.

Undercard

No. 13 Miami (8-2, 4-2 ACC) at Virginia Tech (3-7, 2-5), Saturday, Noon ET, 11 a.m. CT; ESPN

Rivalries carry the tone as the season winds down. The Hurricanes and the Hokies will have a little extra juice.

Not only is Miami looking to stay alive in the CFP, but Virginia Tech has to be feeling good about its new coach (more on that). Standing at 3-7 overall, the season is all but over for the Hokies, but they do have something to play for in being the spoiler.

Take down the ‘Canes and then win the Commonwealth Cup as you prepare for your next coach? What could be sweeter?

Welcome James Franklin

While it was announced earlier this week, Virginia Tech formally introduced James Franklin as the 36th head coach, Wednesday.

As this was being ironed out, Penn State and Franklin reduced the buyout (originally $49 million) down to just $9 million, according to CBS Sports.

Details of his contract with Virginia Tech haven’t been revealed, but one can only expect the Franklin effect. Some Penn State staff members have already left for Blacksburg and recruits may follow too.

Going bowling

Speaking of bowl eligibility, the conference already has eight teams set for the bowl season. Georgia Tech was the first to secure, followed by Virginia in Weeks 7 and 8, respectively.

In Week 9, Pitt, Miami and Louisville all crossed the threshold. SMU joined the bowl club in Week 10, followed by California and Wake Forest in Week 11.

Along with Duke and NC State needing one win to hit six, Florida State and Clemson could clinch this weekend with wins against the Wolfpack and Furman, respectively.

North Carolina is the only other program that could make a bowl eligibility, but also could be eliminated from it against the Blue Devils.

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