Miami had been No. 1 in the Associated Press poll since beating Florida State. On Tuesday, Nov. 3, the College Football Playoff selection committee put the Hurricanes at No. 1 for the first time in program history.
Miami opened ahead of Georgia, Utah and defending national champion Indiana in the first CFP rankings of 2026. The Hurricanes reached No. 2 in the committee’s rankings in November 2017 and made it to the national championship game last season, where they lost 27–21 to Indiana. This November, Miami is 8–0 overall and 6–0 in the ACC.
The first test after the announcement comes Saturday night in South Bend. Notre Dame is 7–1 and No. 11 in the committee’s rankings, seven spots below its position in the AP poll. Miami gets an immediate opportunity to add another ranked win, and the Irish get a shot at the team leading the playoff race.
Four ACC road wins anchor Miami’s résumé
Miami has won four games at home and four on the road. All four road wins came in ACC play: 45–6 at Stanford, 33–20 at Wake Forest, 41–13 at Clemson and 38–35 at North Carolina. It’s the first time since joining the ACC that Miami has gone unbeaten on the road in conference play. Wake Forest, No. 16 in the initial rankings, is the highest-ranked team Miami has beaten so far.
The Clemson game showed how quickly Miami can turn a defensive stop into control of a game. Leading 17–6, the Hurricanes stopped the Tigers on fourth down at the Miami 17, then drove 83 yards for a touchdown. The Florida State game demanded something different. The Seminoles tied it on a 75-yard touchdown late in regulation and went ahead in the first overtime. Javian Mallory’s 25-yard touchdown run kept Miami alive. Malachi Toney caught the go-ahead touchdown and threw the two-point conversion in the second overtime, and Bryce Fitzgerald intercepted the final pass to seal the 43–35 win.
North Carolina showed where Miami is still vulnerable. The Tar Heels found enough room in the passing game to keep the result in doubt and led 28–24 in the fourth quarter. Mark Fletcher Jr. scored his third touchdown to put Miami back in front. Marquise Lightfoot then forced a fumble on a sack, Justin Scott recovered, and Darian Mensah found Toney for the 9-yard touchdown that gave Miami just enough room to withstand North Carolina’s final score. The Hurricanes have shown they can finish a close game. Notre Dame has reason to believe it can make them do it again.
South Florida talent is driving the offense
Toney, a Liberty City native who played at American Heritage, has shaped Miami’s biggest wins in different ways. He set a school record with 234 receiving yards at Stanford, helped decide the Florida State game as a receiver and passer, and set another Miami record with 16 catches against Pitt. He turned those receptions into 194 yards and three touchdowns in a 52–23 win. Mensah threw for 387 yards and four touchdowns that afternoon.
Fletcher’s three scores at North Carolina brought him to 38 career touchdowns, a Miami record. The offense’s flexibility is what makes those individual performances so difficult to defend. When a defense takes away the deep ball, Miami can sustain drives on the ground or get Toney the ball underneath and let him create after the catch. Against Florida State, Toney helped erase a fourth-quarter deficit with a 35-yard reception and a 30-yard run on the same drive. Mallory finished it at the goal line.
What No. 1 means heading to Notre Dame
If the playoff field were set from Tuesday’s rankings, Miami would receive a first-round bye and face the winner of No. 8 UCLA and No. 9 BYU in the quarterfinals. The four highest-ranked teams receive byes under the 12-team format. The committee will update its rankings on Nov. 10, and the final bracket will be announced Dec. 6.
Miami has won the last two meetings with Notre Dame, including last season’s opener. Saturday’s game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET in South Bend. A win would give Miami its fifth road victory and a result against a team already in the committee’s projected field. The Hurricanes then return home for Duke, Virginia Tech and Boston College.
A season ago, Miami’s first CFP run ended six points short. This time, the Hurricanes open at the top of the committee’s rankings. Their first chance to strengthen that position comes on the road against a rival with playoff stakes of its own.
Recent Comments