Alabama and Miami came in at No. 11 and No. 12, respectively, in the penultimate College Football Playoff rankings Tuesday evening. That would make the Crimson Tide the last at-large school to make the 12-team field, while the Hurricanes would be the first left out.

However, that isn’t exactly set in stone with conference championship games still to be played. ESPN senior writer Heather Dinich pointed out it’s still possible that Alabama could be left out as well if enough chaos happens with the teams ranked below it.

“I want to take a minute to remind people that these first-round byes can change,” she said on ESPN’s rankings reveal show. “I also want to point out down at the bottom, we have 11 Alabama and 12 Miami. We keep talking about the 12th team getting left out for that fifth-highest ranked conference champion, which is absolutely correct, Arizona State. But if you have multiple conference champions ranked outside the committee’s top 12 — and you see down lower in the ranking where you have Clemson, you have Iowa State, you have Arizona State, you have UNLV.

“If you have two of those that still need to get into this bracket on selection day, guess who’s out? Not just Miami, Alabama too. So you could have the 11th and 12th team bumped out for the fourth and fifth-highest ranked conference champion.”

No. 8 SMU is set to play No. 17 Clemson in the ACC Championship. Most project the Mustangs to win, securing the lone bid from the conference.

However, if the Tigers pull of the victory, it would force a situation where they earned the automatic bid and give the committee a decision to make with the Mustangs. It could drop SMU below Alabama and keep the Crimson Tide in the playoff, that isn’t a guarantee.

If the Mustangs play a close game and lose, the committee may still decide to grant them an at-large bid ahead of Alabama.

Dinich also mentioned the possibility that UNLV could beat Boise State in the Mountain West Championship. However, in that case, one would have to imagine the Crimson Tide would jump ahead of the Broncos.

Regardless, it’s still far from a sure thing that Alabama punches its ticket to the Playoff. The Crimson Tide will be big SMU fans on Saturday and as long as the Mustangs win, should feel good about their chances.

The Miami Heat (9-10) get crushed against the Boston Celtics (17-4) 108-89.

Here’s a look at four major takeaways from the matchup:

1. Bam Adebayo has hit rock bottom offensively.

The good news is Adebayo cannot get much worse than how he plays now. He finished with 15 points, eight rebounds, and five assists on 33.3 percent shooting and 25 percent from three-point range. Not only is his three-point shooting abysmal up to this point, but he has regressed in his mid-range shots and in the paint. There were numerous missed layups today, which Adebayo from previous seasons would have made.

2. Terry Rozier reverted to playing below expectations again.

Rozier should never play passively in a game where Jimmy Butler is inactive. Rozier finished with four points, three rebounds, and one assist on 33.3 percent shooting and missed both of his three-point attempts. The Miami Heat offense was already struggling before he checked in. However, it is inexcusable when Dru Smith firmly outplays him on both ends of the court.

3. Jaime Jaquez Jr. stepped up in Butler’s absence.

Jaquez may not have had the most efficient night on the team, but he was undoubtedly one of the main contributors to the Heat in their blowout defeat. He finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds, and three assists on 35.7 percent shooting and missed all three-point attempts. Jaquez played similarly to Butler as he got to the free-throw line for 12 attempts.

4. Duncan Robinson struggled with his shooting again.

Robinson finished with five points, three rebounds, and three assists on 22.2 percent shooting and missed all three-point attempts. He was playing so badly Erik Spoelstra decided to have Smith start the second half in his place. It has been three straight games where Robinson has shot under 40 percent and under 30 percent from three. They are 1-2 in this stretch. He was on the injury report this week, dealing with a glute issue. The Heat cannot continue this high three-point attempt strategy if their best shooter struggles and still hope for success. Robinson needs to shoot better.

Bryan Townes is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI. He can be reached at btownesjr@gmail.com or on X @bryantownesjr11. Follow our coverage on Facebook.  

Given the current state of the news cycle, to give Design Miami the over-arching theme of “Blue Sky,” as this year’s newly minted curatorial director Glenn Adamson has done, could either be considered ironic or delusional, or maybe just sweetly optimistic.

Still, the Miami edition of Design Miami (it started in the Floridian city in 2005, hence the name), is known for its more lotus-eating vibes. If the exhibits at the Basel version tend to the historic, and Paris is the ideal spot for elegance and style, then Miami is the place for the experimental and the upbeat. To wit, the Haas Brothers’ large-scale Strawberry Tree that is being co-presented by R& Company and Marianne Boesky in this year’s tent. “Glass is one of the most complicated and collaborative and most modern and historic crafts out there,” say the LA-based brothers, known for their fantastically trippy celebrations of the natural world. The tree is no exception with its bronze trunk encased in thousands of vintage blue beads and hung with luminescent pink glass drops, like over-sized strawberries.

Since last October, the fair has been under the new ownership of Jesse Lee, a 40-ish resident of Los Angeles who cut his teeth in his twenties matching brands from Asos to Gucci to experiences from youth workshops to Coachella parties. Combing data from his invitation-only website, Basic.Space, that sells cool stuff (high and vintage fashion, contemporary design) to even cooler customers, he has deduced that design is now the major focus of Gen Z and Millennials. “It’s the next big thing for people in music and fashion,” he says.

Devon Turnbull’s USM and OJAS Listening Room Installation. Courtesy of USM.

In a world where there are too many fairs, and to survive they need to evolve, Lee’s entrepreneurial instincts could be for the best. He is, for example, introducing Devon Turnbull’s OJAS / USM sound system to the fair, on the grounds that “if you’re going to spend half a million on a kitchen, you’re probably happy to spend $100,000 on speakers.” But also because he believes in the experiential component. (It was, after all, the food offerings and the performances that helped make the early Frieze into a massive success. And look what’s happened since.)

Lee is interested in finding new locations: Aspen and Seoul have been mentioned and he trialled a reasonably successful LA version in May this year. “I love Hawiai,” he says, “but it’s a bit far.” Meanwhile he is increasing the Curio programme, which allows younger dealers to show at cheaper booths, and the range. For Lee, cars and watches (the dude categories) are not beyond consideration, and he wants to reinforce the fair’s connection to fashion. This year, the Zanotta Sacco bean bags, commissioned by Matthieu Blazy for Bottega Veneta’s October fashion show will be on show.

Jean Royère, Sphère coffee table (1954). Courtesy of Galerie Patrick Seguin.

Out of the 54 dealers coming to Miami, only a small number now show exclusively historic design. One of them is the Parisian Patrick Seguin, who is bringing a selection of iconic works by the 20^th Century designer Jean Royere. “I would prefer it if there was more historic work in the fair,” he says. “But most of it is coming from Europe, and shipping furniture is not like shipping a painting.”

Seguin, however, is an industry expert and his offerings are at the highest end—the Royere Sphere table is $500,000. He has a lot of American clients prepared to spend a fortune on these rare pieces. “At this level, the design market is disconnected from economic reality,” says Seguin whose works appeal to those looking for furniture with the same status that a Picasso or a Basquiat might confer.

Javier Senosiain, Warm Colors, Design Miami 2024. Photo: Timothy Doyon, courtesy of Friedman Benda and Javier Senosiain.

For Marc Benda, of New York’s Friedman Benda, it is these top collectors who come on day one who tend to make the venture a success. “But southern Florida is a massive market. There are locals who come back several times,” he says. “There is an openness in the Miami mindset, and I’ve often launched designers’ careers here, including [maximalist] Misha Kahn and [gothic crafter] Chris Schanck.” This year, he has a two-part booth. On one side: the first-ever furniture project, clad in multi-colored Mexican tiles, by the exuberant architect Javier Sanosiain; on the other a new lamp—called Robo—by the Italians Formafantasma, that plays into their insistence on rigor and restraint.

Marc Fish, Ethereal Bed (2024). Courtesy of Sarah Myerscough.

“It took us a while to key into what works in Miami,” says London-based Sarah Myerscough, who is known for having created a significant market for sophisticated but authentically craft-based furniture. “We needed to lighten our palette, get designers to use woods like maple and ash, and respond to the climate.” A couple of years ago, she created a sell-out booth, painting its walls with seductive yellows and blues and showing work including an Angela Demann sissal chandelier that tumbled like hair above a Christopher Kurtz maple table.  (“The paints were by [LA design queen] Kelly Wearstler. I figured she’d understand the aesthetic,” says Myerscough.) This year, she is bringing a sinuously styled bed, with a transparent canopy, by Marc Fish and an equally rococo swing by Dana Barnes and Christopher Kurtz (each around $200,000), all installed in a dusty pink dreamscape.

Christopher Kurtz + Dana Barnes, Between Us Tête-à-Tête (2024). Courtesy of Sarah Myerscough.

“Historically,” says Trevyn McGowan of South African gallery Southern Guild (now with an outpost in Los Angeles), “Miami has been good for us.” Specializing in work from the African continent, McGowan has effectively created the international careers for artists such as Andile Dyalvane and Zizipho Poswa. Their work will be among the 12 ceramists she is showing this year. “Clay is the most enduring, widespread material across the continent,” says McGowan. “With it, the artists explore everything from women’s rights to rituals to technology. It links up the continent and every possible narrative.”

King Houndekpinkou, The Sea Widow To All Those Brave Men Who Carried You Out of the Sea (2024) and Andile Dyalvane, Igqirha (2024). Courtesy of Southern Guild.

Where once contemporary design, and even near-historic work, was measured in quality and significance against 18^th century furniture and porcelain, or the now questionable category of tribal art, as Marc Benda points out, “It is now measured against the contemporary art market. But we have a much more limited inventory.”

However, Sarah Myserscough believes that “Design feels like it’s on a firmer footing right now than the art market. But then, the price points aren’t as high. And people need to furnish their homes.”

Design Miami begins this week, with an invite-only preview on Dec. 5, and open to the public Dec. 6-10. The fair is at Convention Center Drive & 19th Street, Miami Beach, Florida.