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3 reasons Miami Hurricanes won’t nab a spot in College Football Playoff bracket

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3 reasons Miami Hurricanes won’t nab a spot in College Football Playoff bracket


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The Miami Hurricanes aren’t making it to the College Football Playoff. How?

Miami lost to Syracuse on Saturday to miss out on the ACC championship game. The loss hurt in more ways than one, as now the Hurricanes are looking up at Alabama in the latest CFP rankings, even though the ‘Canes have two losses while the Crimson Tide have three.

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“Winning 10 games is exponentially harder than winning nine,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said on The Audible podcast. “This whole, ‘This conference is better than that conference,’ some of the teams are, but not all the teams are. Never once were we in a blowout loss against a .500 team.”

Yes, Alabama did lose bad to a .500 team, and just a few weeks ago. But there are good reasons why Miami will be preparing for a bowl game instead of waiting to hear its place in the CFP bracket on Selection Sunday. We stated the case for Miami; now here’s the rebuttal.

Miami CFP predictions

Miami fell to No. 12 in Tuesday’s CFP rankings update, and because the Big 12 champion (either No. 15 Arizona State or No. 16 Iowa State) must be included in the 12-team field, the Hurricanes are on the outside looking in. Without another game before the final bracket is unveiled, Miami won’t be able to earn their way back into the mix.

Why Miami didn’t make College Football Playoff

Miami been in the CFP field since the rankings made their debut Nov. 5. Meanwhile, Alabama fell out of the field two weeks ago. So how did the Crimson Tide leapfrog the Hurricanes to still have a shot at the playoff?

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Late losses to unranked Georgia Tech and Syracuse

Miami was looking good all season despite a relatively weak strength of schedule because they did the most important thing: win. The Hurricanes’ 9-0 start included some near slip-ups. They had a Hail Mary overturned against Virginia Tech. They rallied from 25 down to beat Cal. The Duke and Wake Forest wins were closer than the final score would indicate.

UM couldn’t flirt with disaster all season, and its two losses came in November, the worst possible time because of the flaws of recent memory. Georgia Tech gave rival Georgia a run for their money and had the 14th toughest schedule, but they did finish 7-5. The Yellow Jackets had a middle-of-the-road defense (ninth in the ACC, a shade worse than Miami’s) but held Cam Ward and the No. 1 offense in the nation to 23 points.

Losing to 9-3 Syracuse is more defensible, but it really didn’t help the narrative around the defense. Speaking of which …

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Cam Ward can’t make up for porous Miami defense

The Hurricanes have a host of NFL talent on defense, leading with star pass rusher Rueben Bain Jr. But since the start of conference play, they have struggled to let Cam Ward and the No. 1 offense in the nation run away with games. Even worse, they seemed incapable of adjusting throughout the season to limit the damage.

Louisville, Virginia Tech and Cal had their third-highest output of the season in their losses to Miami. Syracuse and Duke put up their second-most points of the season against the ‘Canes. That’s more than half of their conference schedule. Who knows how much SMU and Clemson (the No. 5 and 14 scoring offenses in the country, respectively) would have hung up on UM in a hypothetical ACC championship game?

In the four games mentioned above that resulted in Miami wins, Ward had some of his biggest games of his Heisman-caliber season: He has 105 of 164 (64%) for 1,499 yards and 15 touchdowns against just four interceptions in those shootout wins. When he was merely good (50 of 75 for 697 yards and five TDs), it wasn’t enough.

Alabama has SEC influence

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The SEC is regarded as the best conference in college football, and for the most part, it lives up to that hype. But aside from the extra loss, the Crimson Tide have a huge blemish against them: their 24-3 loss at 6-6 Oklahoma on Nov. 23. The Sooners weren’t competitive in most of their conference schedule this year, and they struggled to beat a terrible Houston team early in the season.

But playing in the SEC gave Alabama plenty of opportunities to prove its mettle. Its signature win over Georgia and the narrow victory over South Carolina stand out, but so do the combined 76-13 shellackings the Crimson Tide put on Missouri and LSU. Showing out against so-so teams made it easier for the CFP committee to overlook that Oklahoma slip-up. Bama also lost at CFP shoo-in Tennessee by only a touchdown, and losing at Vanderbilt didn’t look as bad after Texas nearly met the same fate.

Miami handily beat its only SEC opponent this season, winning 41-17 to open the season at Florida. But that was when the Gators were starting Graham Mertz at quarterback: Freshman star DJ Lagway made his debut well after the game was decided. The Hurricanes didn’t have the high-ranking ACC teams (SMU and Clemson) on their schedule, and they lost to the only other team in the current CFP rankings (Syracuse). That’s not Miami’s fault, but it also doesn’t help their case.

  • Date: Sunday, December 8
  • Time: Noon ET

The final College Football Playoff rankings will be revealed starting at noon on Sunday, Dec. 8.

How to watch CFP bracket reveal

  • TV channel: ESPN
  • Live stream: ESPN+ | Fubo

The College Football Playoff bracket will be revealed on ESPN. Streaming options include ESPN+ and Fubo.

We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.



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Miami Dolphins Discussion: Who’s Going To Be There Edition

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Miami Dolphins Discussion: Who’s Going To Be There Edition


When our Miami Dolphins are struggling, the attendance of their games at home naturally dips quite a bit. This, of course, comes with the territory, especially for the fans that reside in South Florida, where there’s always plenty of other things you can be doing with your time and money almost any day of the year. Now, though, we are facing a new season, and we do not expect the team to be great, but due to the new regime and the massive overhaul of the roster, there is, at the very least, a ton of curiosity among many of us fans. We all want to see what theis new coaching staff and new players will give us even if the final product is still at least another season or a couple of seasons away.

So this evenings Phinsider Question Of The Day is:

Which of you will, or will try to either go to a home and/or away Miami Dolphins game in person for this upcoming season?

Please share your thoughts and answers in the comments section below-

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Dolphins OC fuels breakout buzz for underused second-year playmaker

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Dolphins OC fuels breakout buzz for underused second-year playmaker


Few would disagree that the Miami Dolphins’ best overall player, pound-for-pound, is running back De’Von Achane. There’ll be no argument from me on that front. A player who could get some votes from defensive-minded fans might be linebacker Jordyn Brooks — another fantastic contributor who’s been the heart and soul of the defense for the past two seasons.

Ahead of the 2025 season, linebacker Willie Gay Jr. was consistently drawing rave reviews from reporters covering practice sessions. He made good on that billing by excelling in the team’s exhibition games. While fans lamented his lack of playing time, the reality was he was buried behind Brooks and the rock-solid Tyrel Dodson on the depth chart. The situation was painfully similar for second-year running back Ollie Gordon II.

Despite showing some flashes early in the season in short-yardage situations, Gordon’s usage was sporadic. He only reached double-digit carries once, in the Week 8 demolition of the Atlanta Falcons. On one hand, it’s a fantastic thing that De’Von Achane was healthy for 16 of 17 games — on the other, Gordon represents a perfect complement to the diminutive and speedy Achane, and increased usage could make good on that potential.

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The Dolphins’ new offensive coordinator, Bobby Slowik, used evocative language that forecasts a bigger role for Gordon in 2026, should he seize the opportunity.

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“The biggest thing with Ollie is not only is he big — he runs big. When we have pads on, you’re going to hear him run. It’s not one where he’s just going to silently kind of sneak through the line of scrimmage. Everyone’s going to feel — it’s going to sound like trash cans are banging back there. There’s something to that. The O-Line gets energy from that when they feel the physicality from a runner.”

The Achane–Gordon pairing at running back is oozing with potential — as long as the Miami Dolphins are willing to commit to it

De’Von Achane is listed officially at 5’9″ and 191 pounds, while Gordon II clocks in at 6’2″ and 225 pounds. The pairing is a perfect recipe to keep a defense as off-balance as possible. Achane is quick enough to dodge raindrops — for a defense to go from trying to catch a rabbit to bracing for a runaway train from one play to the next is the kind of offensive strategy that could pay huge dividends.

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Gordon’s body of work in the NFL doesn’t jump off the page. His 70 carries for 199 yards (2.8 per-carry-average) with three TDs don’t necessarily scream superstar in the making. It’s important to note, though, that he often got the call in short-yardage situations.

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Gordon had 25 rushes on downs where the line to gain was one, two, or three yards. After converting on eight of his first 10 attempts (80%), he only converted eight of the final 15 (53.3%). For the season, he converted on 64% of his short-yardage attempts. Among 68 running backs who had at least 10 attempts in short-yardage last season, Gordon’s 64% ranked 29th.

While hardly a comparison to these backs’ overall body of work, respected and proven stars such as Bijan Robinson (60.87%, 43rd), Saquon Barkley (59.38%, 47th), and Derrick Henry (55%, 55th) are prime examples that it’s not all on the RB. Anyone out there who chooses to label Derrick Henry a liability in short yardage should do so at their own risk. Once again, not a comparison. Just an observation.

The hope is that with first-round pick Kadyn Proctor joining the team, the Dolphins may see a surge from their interior offensive line. At 6’7″ and 352 pounds, Proctor will never fail due to a lack of size or athletic ability. This is truly a rare athlete with a unique build — he’ll go as far as his work ethic takes him. If you’ve started to notice a “largeness” theme emanating from South Florida, it’s intentional.

Jon-Eric Sullivan discussed the concept in one of his introductory press conferences, stating: “There’s a saying in our business, fast gets slow but big doesn’t get small.” Well, sir, we heard you, but after the draft and free agency, now we see you. We’ll have to wait to see how it translates, but no one can say Sullivan wasn’t about what he said.

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Ollie Gordon II — Dolphins fans hope you’re listening. The marriage between Gordon’s playstyle and the new coaching staff’s tenets is a match made in heaven. If he makes good on his own athletic gifts and untapped potential, the Dolphins may well have their next Ricky Williams in the building.

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Miami Dolphins Discussion: Could He Be The One

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Miami Dolphins Discussion: Could He Be The One


In one of Kdog’s (Kevin Dolney, for the newer folks) recent editions of the Splash Zone, he pointed to an article by A to Z Sports. In the article, A to Z Sports points to Miami Dolphins running back De’Von Achane and how he could be the first player for the team and only the fourth player in NFL history to reach a thousand yards in both rushing and receiving. The only other players to ever accomplish this rare feat were the San Francisco 49ers’ Roger Craig in 1985, the St Louis Rams’ Marshall Faulk in 1999, and the Carolina Panthers’ Christian McCaffrey in 2019.

Achane, if you believe the reports or maybe just in the fact that he’s easily the most talented player on offense, will be, or at least should be, much of the focus on offense this coming season. Achane, if nothing else, has proven dependable and downright electric at times. What he lacks in size, he seems to make up for in durability and pure speed. Besides being clearly the best all-around running back on the team, he has also shown that he is one of the most dependable receivers on the roster. With the loss of Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill, he might be at this point the best receiver on the team, although I hope that title eventually goes to rookie Chris Bell once he returns from the injury that he suffered in his SR year at Louisville.

So this evening’s Phinsider Question Of The Day is:

Do you believe that Miami Dolphins running back De’Von Achane will enter the very exclusive club of players who have hit both 1,000 yards in both receiving and rushing for the 2026-2027 NFL season?

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Please share your thoughts and answers in the comments section below-



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