Three (general) things teams need to get to the playoffs IMO

[ghost2]

Besides the obvious (talent, good coaching, winning lots of games...)


1. Judicious Scheduling (in a P5 conference) - 1-2 cupcakes + 1-2 "name" OOC matchups to go with a strong conference schedule. Just enough away games to prove a point.

2. Health - not just overall health, but getting healthy at the right time (i.e. in the thick of conference play/at the end of the season.) Depth of talent of course plays a role here - avoiding injuries to key players at key times, which of course feeds somewhat into:

3. Luck - every team needs it at some point during the season because college football is weird and unpredictable. Three ranked teams above you getting upset in the same week, the key game-ending INT that preserves the perfect season, Nick Saban getting cholera...



I bring this up because, IMO, Miami has at least #1 and #2 going for them right now. I LOVED our schedule pre-season and I'm loving it more at 8-0. 3 out of the last 4 games at home, hardest challenge to come with the clincher this Saturday and a view of the playoffs in sight. And most importantly, we're getting healthy at the right time. The DJackson injury is of course a blow, but for where we are in the season and what we've already overcome, I really can't ask for a better team going into the home stretch.

#3 is always fickle - great teams tend to create a lot of their own luck, of course. That said, it'd be nice if the football gods smiled on us because we're SO close to something truly special and, let's face it, unexpected. Can't wait to see how this season finishes out - and that's the first time I've been able to type that sentence with a straight face since maybe 2005. Go Canes.

 

[407cane]

miami is in a unique position where we play 2 of the top 5 teams.

so unforuntately Head 2 Head will rule miami if we are going to make it

if we were going to lose a game it would have to be pitt or UVA and beat clemson and notre dame to have a shot.

lose to clemson or ND and we're out.

most other schools have the benefit of not having to rely on H2H as much leading up to december

 

[Doppelganger]

Besides the obvious (talent, good coaching, winning lots of games...)


1. Judicious Scheduling (in a P5 conference) - 1-2 cupcakes + 1-2 "name" OOC matchups to go with a strong conference schedule. Just enough away games to prove a point.

2. Health - not just overall health, but getting healthy at the right time (i.e. in the thick of conference play/at the end of the season.) Depth of talent of course plays a role here - avoiding injuries to key players at key times, which of course feeds somewhat into:

3. Luck - every team needs it at some point during the season because college football is weird and unpredictable. Three ranked teams above you getting upset in the same week, the key game-ending INT that preserves the perfect season, Nick Saban getting cholera...



I bring this up because, IMO, Miami has at least #1 and #2 going for them right now. I LOVED our schedule pre-season and I'm loving it more at 8-0. 3 out of the last 4 games at home, hardest challenge to come with the clincher this Saturday and a view of the playoffs in sight. And most importantly, we're getting healthy at the right time. The DJackson injury is of course a blow, but for where we are in the season and what we've already overcome, I really can't ask for a better team going into the home stretch.

#3 is always fickle - great teams tend to create a lot of their own luck, of course. That said, it'd be nice if the football gods smiled on us because we're SO close to something truly special and, let's face it, unexpected. Can't wait to see how this season finishes out - and that's the first time I've been able to type that sentence with a straight face since maybe 2005. Go Canes.

I'd say we've had more 3 than 2 (Walton injury, Richards nagging injury, etc.)

 

[KevinCaneFace]

I think being undefeated with ND and VT under our belts will be enough. The luck will be Clemson losing another ACC game and giving us a matchup with NC state instead.

 

[AllAboutTheU]

miami is in a unique position where we play 2 of the top 5 teams.

so unforuntately Head 2 Head will rule miami if we are going to make it

if we were going to lose a game it would have to be pitt or UVA and beat clemson and notre dame to have a shot.

lose to clemson or ND and we're out.

most other schools have the benefit of not having to rely on H2H as much leading up to december

Don't want this to happen, but Miami could lose to ND and beat Clemson and still get in

 

[ghost2]

Besides the obvious (talent, good coaching, winning lots of games...)


1. Judicious Scheduling (in a P5 conference) - 1-2 cupcakes + 1-2 "name" OOC matchups to go with a strong conference schedule. Just enough away games to prove a point.

2. Health - not just overall health, but getting healthy at the right time (i.e. in the thick of conference play/at the end of the season.) Depth of talent of course plays a role here - avoiding injuries to key players at key times, which of course feeds somewhat into:

3. Luck - every team needs it at some point during the season because college football is weird and unpredictable. Three ranked teams above you getting upset in the same week, the key game-ending INT that preserves the perfect season, Nick Saban getting cholera...



I bring this up because, IMO, Miami has at least #1 and #2 going for them right now. I LOVED our schedule pre-season and I'm loving it more at 8-0. 3 out of the last 4 games at home, hardest challenge to come with the clincher this Saturday and a view of the playoffs in sight. And most importantly, we're getting healthy at the right time. The DJackson injury is of course a blow, but for where we are in the season and what we've already overcome, I really can't ask for a better team going into the home stretch.

#3 is always fickle - great teams tend to create a lot of their own luck, of course. That said, it'd be nice if the football gods smiled on us because we're SO close to something truly special and, let's face it, unexpected. Can't wait to see how this season finishes out - and that's the first time I've been able to type that sentence with a straight face since maybe 2005. Go Canes.

I'd say we've had more 3 than 2 (Walton injury, Richards nagging injury, etc.)

True, especially in the sense that we always assumed (pre-season) that if Walton went down, there goes the season. Thankfully that hasn't been the case. Whether that plays into luck or depth or talent or all of the above is moot.

 

[407cane]

I think being undefeated with ND and VT under our belts will be enough. The luck will be Clemson losing another ACC game and giving us a matchup with NC state instead.

100% agree, i'm all for playing the best

but if we can play nc state instead, then i'm 100% with that. we would own NC State, clemson would be a slugfest

dare we say...if fsu beat clemson this week wouldn't be the worst thi..

na couldn't finish that sentence

 

[KevinCaneFace]

I think being undefeated with ND and VT under our belts will be enough. The luck will be Clemson losing another ACC game and giving us a matchup with NC state instead.

100% agree, i'm all for playing the best

but if we can play nc state instead, then i'm 100% with that. we would own NC State, clemson would be a slugfest

dare we say...if fsu beat clemson this week wouldn't be the worst thi..

na couldn't finish that sentence

Haha Exactly
In my opinion, the playoffs weren’t the expectation this year so if we back in by avoiding Clemson then I’m all for it. Clemson is beatable but we’d be the favorites vs NC state.

 

[kryptonite]

miami is in a unique position where we play 2 of the top 5 teams.

so unforuntately Head 2 Head will rule miami if we are going to make it

if we were going to lose a game it would have to be pitt or UVA and beat clemson and notre dame to have a shot.

lose to clemson or ND and we're out.

most other schools have the benefit of not having to rely on H2H as much leading up to december

We're lucky to have those shots at top 5 teams because we aren't getting much credit for being undefeated. My nightmare is that we beat ND who then goes winless the rest of the year and Clempson drops another game or two and the narrative remains "Miami hasn't played anybody good". I think we all know that if we beat ND it will turn out they were a deeply flawed team.

Mentioning luck, this team has been crazy lucky this year. Great 4th quarter plays that shouldn't work most of the time working for us. Teams foolishly choosing to go for it on 4th down in the redzone and getting nothing. ****, that redzone fumble on Saturday could easily have ended up back in VT hands but it bounced right to one of our guys. Seems like we had a solid 10 years where the ball went back to the other team or at best we dove on it, but never just bounced up into our hands. Like OP said, great teams make their own luck, and that's what this team is doing. If that continues, I like our chances to go all the way.

 

[Pentagon Cane]

I think being undefeated with ND and VT under our belts will be enough. The luck will be Clemson losing another ACC game and giving us a matchup with NC state instead.

100% agree, i'm all for playing the best

but if we can play nc state instead, then i'm 100% with that. we would own NC State, clemson would be a slugfest

dare we say...if fsu beat clemson this week wouldn't be the worst thi..

na couldn't finish that sentence

Quite honestly, I hope Miami plays Clemson. Two years removed from a 58-0 *** whipping. It sets up nicely for Miami. Rarely do you get an opportunity to avenge such as beat down in a huge game.

 

[Doppelganger]

I think we all know that if we beat ND it will turn out they were a deeply flawed team.

But if the win is convincing enough it will trump Georgia's biggest win, no?

 

[Colombie]

We're lucky to have those shots at top 5 teams because we aren't getting much credit for being undefeated. My nightmare is that we beat ND who then goes winless the rest of the year and Clempson drops another game or two and the narrative remains "Miami hasn't played anybody good". I think we all know that if we beat ND it will turn out they were a deeply flawed team.

Mentioning luck, this team has been crazy lucky this year. Great 4th quarter plays that shouldn't work most of the time working for us. Teams foolishly choosing to go for it on 4th down in the redzone and getting nothing. ****, that redzone fumble on Saturday could easily have ended up back in VT hands but it bounced right to one of our guys. Seems like we had a solid 10 years where the ball went back to the other team or at best we dove on it, but never just bounced up into our hands. Like OP said, great teams make their own luck, and that's what this team is doing. If that continues, I like our chances to go all the way.

People only like to point out the fortuitous bounces that go our way but like to ignore the breaks that do not go our way. For instance every kicker has looked like Adam Vinatieri against us. Not one missed FG. Also, how many points have we left on the field because we have not been able to score in the redzone or convert on third down. How many points have we scored off turnovers?
In many ways teams are "lucky" that we have not been blowing them out.
It goes both ways.

 

[KevinCaneFace]

I think being undefeated with ND and VT under our belts will be enough. The luck will be Clemson losing another ACC game and giving us a matchup with NC state instead.

100% agree, i'm all for playing the best

but if we can play nc state instead, then i'm 100% with that. we would own NC State, clemson would be a slugfest

dare we say...if fsu beat clemson this week wouldn't be the worst thi..

na couldn't finish that sentence

Quite honestly, I hope Miami plays Clemson. Two years removed from a 58-0 *** whipping. It sets up nicely for Miami. Rarely do you get an opportunity to avenge such as beat down in a huge game.

I feel no need for vengeance. That was the greatest loss in program history and I mean that positively.
The teams we need vengeance against are the four teams that beat us last year and so far we have beaten three of them

 

[miamicanephins]

I think being undefeated with ND and VT under our belts will be enough. The luck will be Clemson losing another ACC game and giving us a matchup with NC state instead.

100% agree, i'm all for playing the best

but if we can play nc state instead, then i'm 100% with that. we would own NC State, clemson would be a slugfest

dare we say...if fsu beat clemson this week wouldn't be the worst thi..

na couldn't finish that sentence

Quite honestly, I hope Miami plays Clemson. Two years removed from a 58-0 *** whipping. It sets up nicely for Miami. Rarely do you get an opportunity to avenge such as beat down in a huge game.

Agreed. Clemsom is ripe for the beating.

 

[NorthEastCane]

We're lucky to have those shots at top 5 teams because we aren't getting much credit for being undefeated. My nightmare is that we beat ND who then goes winless the rest of the year and Clempson drops another game or two and the narrative remains "Miami hasn't played anybody good". I think we all know that if we beat ND it will turn out they were a deeply flawed team.

Mentioning luck, this team has been crazy lucky this year. Great 4th quarter plays that shouldn't work most of the time working for us. Teams foolishly choosing to go for it on 4th down in the redzone and getting nothing. ****, that redzone fumble on Saturday could easily have ended up back in VT hands but it bounced right to one of our guys. Seems like we had a solid 10 years where the ball went back to the other team or at best we dove on it, but never just bounced up into our hands. Like OP said, great teams make their own luck, and that's what this team is doing. If that continues, I like our chances to go all the way.

People only like to point out the fortuitous bounces that go our way but like to ignore the breaks that do not go our way. For instance every kicker has looked like Adam Vinatieri against us. Not one missed FG. Also, how many points have we left on the field because we have not been able to score in the redzone or convert on third down. How many points have we scored off turnovers?
In many ways teams are "lucky" that we have not been blowing them out.
It goes both ways.

I'm not disagreeing with you but the examples you cite aren't the strongest to support that we've also been the victims, e.g.

* Field goals - just executing what they are supposed to do is not necessarily bad luck (even though in VTs case the kicker is historically bad in 50+ yard attempts
* Short Yardage - our failure to execute in short yardage is cited as an example, not of bad luck, but that we're not good enough yet.

A good example of a bad break was the bounce of the late 4th qtr fumble in last years Notre Dame game. We recover that fumble, we win. Off the top of my head, I can't think of an equally egregious example that directly impacted the a game. People only remember FSU and GT, hence the narrative.

Those of us who have watched the full games know the difference.

 

[Tetragrammaton Cane]

Don't want this to happen, but Miami could lose to ND and beat Clemson and still get in

Anything COULD happen, but for that^ to happen everyone else would have to lose all their games or at least have 2 or more losses. Not remotely realistic.

Miami drops a single game and there will be no CFP.

Go Canes 9-0!

 

[Doppelganger]

Also, how many points have we left on the field because we have not been able to score in the redzone or convert on third down.

That's not luck though.

That's just not executing or not being good enough.

 

[Doppelganger]

In many ways teams are "lucky" that we have not been blowing them out. It goes both ways.

Not really.

We're 4-0 in one score games whereas we were 0-3 last year.

That's where it goes both ways.

There have been no unlucky breaks for us this year except for injuries.

 

[monkey1371]

Don't want this to happen, but Miami could lose to ND and beat Clemson and still get in

Anything COULD happen, but for that^ to happen everyone else would have to lose all their games or at least have 2 or more losses. Not remotely realistic.

Miami drops a single game and there will be no CFP.

Go Canes 9-0!

I don't 100% agree with this sentiment....It's not as far fetched as you think, but will depend a lot on how the loss is and how far the drop is..... should just need a little help.

You will have to assume the pecking order in front of us would be
1 Loss Bama
1 Loss UGA
1 Loss Notre Dame
1 Loss OU or 1 Loss TCU (they play each other, and then likely again in B12CG)
Undefeated Wisc
2 Loss SEC Champ Auburn with wins over Bama and UGA Twice in the next 4 weeks.

Miami should get the nod over :
- 12-1 Washington team based up a bigger quality win (Clemson) and the quality of the loss (ND versus ASU)
- 1 loss Wisc B10 Champ
- 2 loss B10 champ MSU or OSU
- 2 loss B12 champ
- 2 loss Notre Dame (that one I don't know though)

 

[Colombie]

We're lucky to have those shots at top 5 teams because we aren't getting much credit for being undefeated. My nightmare is that we beat ND who then goes winless the rest of the year and Clempson drops another game or two and the narrative remains "Miami hasn't played anybody good". I think we all know that if we beat ND it will turn out they were a deeply flawed team.

Mentioning luck, this team has been crazy lucky this year. Great 4th quarter plays that shouldn't work most of the time working for us. Teams foolishly choosing to go for it on 4th down in the redzone and getting nothing. ****, that redzone fumble on Saturday could easily have ended up back in VT hands but it bounced right to one of our guys. Seems like we had a solid 10 years where the ball went back to the other team or at best we dove on it, but never just bounced up into our hands. Like OP said, great teams make their own luck, and that's what this team is doing. If that continues, I like our chances to go all the way.

People only like to point out the fortuitous bounces that go our way but like to ignore the breaks that do not go our way. For instance every kicker has looked like Adam Vinatieri against us. Not one missed FG. Also, how many points have we left on the field because we have not been able to score in the redzone or convert on third down. How many points have we scored off turnovers?
In many ways teams are "lucky" that we have not been blowing them out.
It goes both ways.

I'm not disagreeing with you but the examples you cite aren't the strongest to support that we've also been the victims, e.g.

* Field goals - just executing what they are supposed to do is not necessarily bad luck (even though in VTs case the kicker is historically bad in 50+ yard attempts
* Short Yardage - our failure to execute in short yardage is cited as an example, not of bad luck, but that we're not good enough yet.

A good example of a bad break was the bounce of the late 4th qtr fumble in last years Notre Dame game. We recover that fumble, we win. Off the top of my head, I can't think of an equally egregious example that directly impacted the a game. People only remember FSU and GT, hence the narrative.

Those of us who have watched the full games know the difference.

I pointed out the redzone issues only because he pointed out the redzone issues VA tech had in his post.

The point is breaks go both ways.

As for FGs maybe you did not see the syracuse kicker slip and still make it. That sorta thing does not happen every day. It is a break that went their way.

IF you want to nitpick go ahead. But the point is teams are "Lucky" that we have not been blowing them out in my eyes based on his logic.