Miami Football: Experts still believe Hurricanes can play for national title

Some watched as Miami football was upset by Pittsburgh Friday believing the Hurricanes had lost their shot at competing for the national title.

That, though, doesn’t appear to be the case.

The Hurricanes suffered their first loss of the season in stunning fashion at Pittsburgh, but college football experts Phil Steele and Ralph Russo both believe “The U” can make the College Football Playoff.

How?

Miami, which will fall from No. 2 in the CFP next week, takes on current No. 3 Clemson for the ACC Championship next Saturday. A win over the Tigers would give the Hurricanes a keynote victory, knocking Clemson out of the Top-4 and could sway voters to include the league champion.

The body of work for Miami is as good as anybody else out there, as they hold wins over both Virginia Tech and Notre Dame. The two games came at home, but were played in back-to-back weeks.

And neither were close.

The Hurricanes dominated Virginia Tech at the point of attack, picking up a 28-10 victory. Seven days later, Miami caught everything Irish quarterback Brandon Wimbush put up in the air, bottling up Josh Adams and claiming a 41-8 victory in prime-time.

Those two blowouts, though, came after single-digit wins vs. Florida State, Georgia Tech, Syracuse and North Carolina in October, along with a come-from-behind victory over Virginia last week.

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But the CFP already said they were impressed with Miami by moving them from third to second last Tuesday on the heels of that win over the Cavaliers.

The Hurricanes also have the past to lean on, as Clemson made the final four and went on to win the national title despite losing to Pittsburgh last year – and that defeat was in Death Valley.