Warde Manuel explains why Alabama topped Miami in latest College Football Playoff rankings

One of the biggest moves in the College Football Playoff rankings was the drop of Miami following a loss to Syracuse. The size of that drop drew immediate scrutiny from Hurricanes fans and fans of the sport in general.

As things stand, if the penultimate playoff rankings dictated the final rankings, Alabama would be into the field in the final spot, while Miami would be the first team left out.

College Football Playoff selection committee chair Warde Manuel joined ESPN to discuss the difference between the two teams on Tuesday night.

“What it came down to is as we evaluated both teams and looked at how they rank, obviously we think highly of both teams,” Manuel said. “One’s at 11, one’s at 12. But what it really came down to is Alabama is 3-1 against current top 25 teams and Miami is 0-1. Alabama is 6-1 against teams above .500 and Miami’s 4-2. Both have had some losses that weren’t what they wanted out of those games. But in the last three games, Miami has lost twice.”

That recency bias favoring Alabama is something neither program can do much to change at this point. Neither Alabama nor Miami will play in a conference championship game this weekend.

Miami’s loss to Syracuse cost it that shot at the ACC title — and possibly a College Football Playoff berth.

“So for us, in evaluating their body of work, we felt that Alabama got the edge over Miami,” Manuel said.

Is there anything that could change between now and Sunday’s final ranking? That’s the question that will be top of mind for Miami fans, who are hoping against hope to somehow sneak into the field.

The good news? Manuel left the College Football Playoff door ever so slightly cracked.

“Yes, it could change. It all depends on the outcome of these games,” Manuel said. “The commissioners have asked us to rank the top 25 through the conference championships, and that’s what we intend to do. We have high regard, as I’ve said before, for those who are playing in those conference championships, and we will closely evaluate those games and the outcome of those games to rank the top 25 on Sunday.”

How things could play out in a manner that would behoove Miami remains to be seen. For now, the ‘Canes are in an uncomfortable position.