SMQ: Which 1-loss teams are still College Football Playoff contenders?

In 2000, the Miami Hurricanes entered the season as a top-five team in the polls. Butch Davis and his staff had high hopes of bringing another national title to Coral Gables. The Hurricanes put themselves in an early deficit in the BCS race when they lost 34-29 in Seattle to then-No. 15 Washington.

Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey would go on to finish in the Heisman voting each of the next two seasons, but at the turn of the century he was still a raw passer. Against the Huskies on the other side of the country from home, Dorsey finished just 15-of-34 for 216 yards passing. He tossed a touchdown, and avoided throwing an interception, but it wasn’t enough to pull Miami through.

The Hurricanes nevertheless came close to making the BCS despite their defeat. Miami would not lose for the rest of the regular season, finishing 10-1 as Big East champions. By the time the first BCS standings were released in late October, the Hurricanes had climbed all the way up to fourth. They would have undoubtedly reached a four-team playoff had it existed.

Instead, though, Miami was spurned by the BCS despite defeating Florida State when they were No. 1 and Virginia Tech when they were No. 2 in the standings. With Oklahoma the only undefeated major-conference champion, style points ruled the day. As a result, the Seminoles were given the nod to face the Sooners instead of a Hurricanes team that had knocked off FSU.