Paul Finebaum dismisses Miami as national championship contender after Georgia Tech loss

The Miami Hurricanes survived several near upsets earlier in the season. However, the Hurricanes weren’t able to come from behind to beat the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Saturday and suffered their first loss of the season.

With that loss, ESPN’s Paul Finebaum went on SportsCenter. There, he dismissed Miami as a national championship contender, even if they can still make it to the College Football Playoff.

“Let me be clear here, Miami still has a very good shot at making the Playoff, should they run the table and win the ACC,” Paul Finebaum said. “But as far as them being legitimate — as far as them being a national contender, let us please bury that. How many close calls have we seen this year? Monumental comebacks. Yesterday, in Atlanta against Georgia Tech, what was going on here? I mean, please.”

Georgia Tech ended up beating Miami 28-23 with Heisman Trophy hopeful Cam Ward playing very well overall, even if his last-minute fumble did seal the game for the Yellow Jackets. It was a game that, up until that fumble, it seemed like the Hurricanes had a good chance to come from behind to win.

For Miami, playing close games in ACC play has become a bit of a trend. The Hurricanes had one-score wins over Virginia Tech, California, and Louisville but they managed to survive all of those games until now.

“This was really hard to follow at times,” Finebaum said. “Yes, I know Miami made a very nice run at the end but you don’t lose to Georgia Tech if you want to be in the big boy conversation. Buried as far as hype. Alive in theory.”

In the old College Football Playoff format, Miami would be in a very precarious situation following the loss. However, there is more room for error in the 12-team format. The top five ranked conference champions are going to make it to the Playoff. On top of that, there are going to be seven at-large bids given out this year. That gives the Hurricanes multiple paths to make the Playoff even with the loss. However, for Finebaum, making the Playoff isn’t enough to be a true contender.

Next week, the Miami Hurricanes are going to have a bye week to regroup. After that, they’ll close out their season with a pair of ACC games against Wake Forest and Syracuse. The Hurricanes will be favored to win those games and will likely need to do so for their postseason hopes.