Miami Hurricanes Week 14 Rooting Guide: The Canes need a miracle, and there are a few prayers that could be answered

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The Miami Hurricanes’ chances at making the ACC Championship game and the College Football Playoff are out of their hands. The Canes need help across the country for both a ticket to Charlotte as well as CFP at large consideration.

But first things first – Miami takes on the Pittsburgh Panthers on Saturday at noon and has to take care of business themselves. The Panthers showed last weekend in Atlanta that they’re no pushover when they play their game, topping Georgia Tech 42-28 after taking a 28-0 first half lead.

However, if the Canes can find a way to win, then at No. 12 in the latest CFP rankings, they need help to climb into the top 10 for a possible at large spot. And they’ll need some wonkiness in ACC play to make it to the ACC title game.

ACC Championship game clinching scenarios

I wrote about these earlier in the week, so you can find them here. There are eight possible paths that Miami could follow that could get them to Charlotte for the ACC Championship game. They involve a combination of SMU, Duke, and Virginia losing, and they could involve tiebreakers with NC State-UNC and Syracuse-Boston College as well.

In fact, there are a number of scenarios where NC State and Syracuse winning could both hurt and help Miami, depending on the scenario.

But the first game up among Duke/Virginia/SMU is Wake Forest and Duke at 3:30 pm ET. Duke needs to lose in most scenarios, so cheer for Wake Forest. How that game goes will dictate what Miami fans should root for later. Virginia Tech-Virginia is at 7:00 and Cal-SMU is at 8:00, so Miami fans will have a better idea around then what needs to happen.

The simplest path is an SMU win, a Duke loss, and a UVA loss. If that happens, Miami’s in. So if Duke loses at 3:30, that would be the optimal thing to cheer for on Saturday night.

Miami needs some upsets on Saturday for at large playoff consideration

The CFP selection committee has made it clear: they prefer their eyeball test over what happened on the field when it comes to Miami and Notre Dame. Basically, what they think would happen if they met again. Miami proved that is flawed logic back in August, when most people picked Notre Dame to win, but the Canes physically controlled the Irish and won 27-24.

So, Miami is going to need help to climb up to the Irish and breathe down their next and put the committee in an impossible position. Fortunately, crazy things happen in rivalry week, and there are a number of options for Miami to cheer on.

Alabama at Auburn. Anything can happen in the Iron Bowl, and Auburn’s gotten a spark on offense with a QB change late in the season. It’s War Eagle this weekend.

LSU at Oklahoma. This is a long shot despite LSU’s talent because the Tigers are beat up and look like they’re ready for the season to be over. I don’t see how LSU’s depleted offense can hang with a terrific OU defense, but for those who hope, cheer on the Bayou Bengals.

Oregon at Washington. The game is in Seattle, so the environment will be a challenge for the Ducks. At a 6.5-point spread, the experts predict a relatively close game. A Huskies win could open the door for the Canes.

Mississippi at Mississippi State. Can the Lane Kiffin mess distract the Rebels enough for the Bulldogs to pull off the upset? Texas and Tennessee were taken into overtime in Starkville. Guess where this game is?

Texas Tech at West Virginia. Don’t expect much here with TTU a huge favorite, but an upset by West Virginia would open the door to the Big 12 possibly becoming a 1 big league.

UCF at BYU. The Cougars remain one spot ahead of Miami and would be 11-1 with a win. There’s always hope that a blowout Big 12 title game loss could drop them behind a 10-2 Miami, but a 10-2 BYU team would undoubtedly drop. Unlikely, but it’s worth rooting for.

Vanderbilt at Tennessee. The Commodores could get a late push with a win over a ranked Tennessee team in Knoxville. Don’t need that. The Vols could end that talk with a big intrastate win.

Utah at Kansas. Miami jumped the Utes on Tuesday, but a blowout win over the Jayhawks and a Miami super close win could give the committee – of which the Utah athletic director is a member – thoughts about flipping them again. Kansas can end those doubts with an upset.

Notre Dame at Stanford. I’m listing this just because they are playing, but as a 32.5-point favorite, don’t expect to see the Cardinal do Miami and everyone else in contention an enormous favor late on Saturday night.

This story was originally published by A to Z Sports on Nov 27, 2025, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add A to Z Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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