They are thinking Iike people who follow Cristobal coached teams. His teams are GUARANTEED to have 1-2 clunkers every season so obviously that same thing will happen to other programs. Wrong.
Like you said, the HCs at UVA and GT have their teams running with machine-like efficiency. They bring the same intensity no matter the opponent. Neither UVA nor GT have enough top end talent to beat elite teams, but they will at least get the chance to play those teams in the playoffs because they are consistent week after week. Miami does have the talent to beat the elite teams but it isn’t ever going to get the chance to show it in the playoffs because in all his years as a P4 HC, Cristobal has NEVER had a team that was able to bring the same consistency and intensity for an entire regular season.
We do not control our own fate and a part of the reason is the scheduling quirk that the two teams who are currently leading the ACC don’t face each other. It’s just random bad luck. Both have easy schedules and are very likely to win out. In most years you could still get to the ACC championship with 1 conference loss because the other teams would knock each other off in a head to head. This year we didn’t have the margin for error. I don’t the playoff committee will take 3 ACC teams. If UVA and GT get to the ACC championship undefeated, the loser gets the second spot. We are out. A 2 loss P2 will get the nod before Miami because of the conference perception.