Pete Thamel predicts Miami as No. 9 seed in College Football Playoff

2024 features the first year of the expanded College Football Playoff format, meaning more teams than ever will be vying for their chances to make the big dance. No longer will it just be a select few teams each season — the field is wide open.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel and Rece Davis recently broke down their predictions for the 12-team College Football Playoff. Thamel slotted the Miami Hurricanes at No. 9.

“I’m going to take Miami and bet on just pure talent,” Thamel told Davis. “Talent brought in at quarterback, talent brought in a tailback. Talent returns on the offensive line, talent brought in at receiver. The defense is, again, pretty salty. I just feel like at a certain point you can accumulate enough talent to overcome the odd late game clock mismanagement, to overcome some of their — it seems like their coordinator issues are over. It feels like Mario has the right guys in place there.

“Now I don’t say it with conviction, but I do feel like talent will win out. I feel like they can go to Gainesville and win, get a huge amount of momentum starting there early. But yeah, that is definitely one of those picks by nightfall on opening weekend, I could have pangs of regret. But I just look at wire to wire talent at Miami. I think they’re ahead of Clemson, and that’s why I have them there.”

Opening the season in one of the more hostile environments they’ll face this season at Florida, the ‘Canes will have to rely on new quarterback Cam Ward in his first start with the team after transferring into the program from Washington State.

In 2023, Ward completed 66.6 percent of his passes, throwing for 3,735 yards, with 25 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Entering his fifth season in college football, Ward not only looks to improve his draft stock, he’s also looking to win – something Miami head coach Mario Cristobal has said is crucial for the Miami QB as they look block out the preseason hype and to come together and better build off last year’s 7-6 campaign.

That effort begins when Miami travels to Gainesville to open the season. The ‘Canes matchup against in-state rival Florida is set for Saturday, Aug. 31 with the opening kickoff scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET live on ABC. From there, they’ll begin ACC play against Virginia Tech during Week 5 while their schedule also features matchups against Louisville and Florida State for an opportunity to prove their worth in conference play.