Is the College Football Playoff now the College Football Tournament?
That's how this feels now. The CFP is the CFT – and that is how the ACC is back in the championship game. "January Madness" doesn't have the same ring to it.
What about "Miami Madness"? It's here.
How else can you explain how the Hurricanes will play for the College Football Playoff championship on Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.? No. 10 Miami created that with a thrilling 31-27 victory against No. 6 Ole Miss in the College Football Playoff semifinal at Vrbo Fiesta Bowl on Thursday.
Quarterback Carson Beck – a sixth-year senior transfer from Georgia – high-stepped into the end zone with a 3-yard touchdown run with 18 seconds remaining. That was the score in a back-and-forth with Ole Miss star quarterback Trinidad Chambliss in a 25-point fourth quarter that resembled the final minutes of a March Madness thriller.
It wasn't over until Chambliss' desperation pass into the end zone between Ethan O'Connor and Zechariah Poyser fell incomplete. There was no late flag this time.
Miami (13-2) beat Ole Miss (13-2), and now faces the winner of the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl between No. 1 Indiana (14-0) and No. 5 Oregon (13-1).
Is this how the 12-team College Football Playoff is going to work? Do you love it?
MORE 2026 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF NEWS:
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- Ole Miss kicker Lucas Carneiro took center stage in CFP
- What is next for Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss?
Miami defies odds to make CFP championship game
The Hurricanes had +2700 odds to win the national championship coming into the CFP as the “bubble team.” Miami was on the outside looking in through most of November, but they leap-frogged No. 11 Notre Dame in the final set of rankings as the last at-large team in the field.
The Hurricanes watched five-loss Duke win the ACC championship game against Virginia, but the Hurricanes were the team the conference campaigned for to get into the field. By no coincidence, ACC commissioner Jim Phillips could be seen on the sideline Thursday wearing an orange-and-white tie. This is a huge win for the conference made better by knocking the SEC out of the field.
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The Hurricanes have pulled off upsets against Texas A&M and Ohio State, then won the thriller against Ole Miss to keep the momentum going. They will be underdogs again against the Hoosiers or Ducks. So it could be argued that Miami – the program with five national championships – is your realistic College Football Playoff version of a Cinderella.
How Miami beat Ole Miss in CFP semifinals
Miami led 17-13 at halftime – but it felt like the Hurricanes should have led by more. The Hurricanes out-gained the Rebels 228-145, ran 19 more offensive plays and controlled time of possession at 22 minutes and 14 seconds compared to Ole Miss at seven minutes and 16 seconds.
The Hurricanes made those little plays that made a difference. Miami faced a third-and-8 in the second quarter. Beck fired a short pass to receiver Malachi Toney, who stepped out of the tackle by Suntarine Perkins and picked up the first down.
The Hurricanes turned that into a 4-yard TD run by CharMar Brown with 7:23 left in the half. Beck hit a wide-open Keelan Marion for a 52-yard TD on the next drive. Ole Miss countered that with a pair of field goals from Lucas Carneiro from 42 and 58 yards, respectively, for the 17-13 halftime score.
The Hurricanes tried to give it back in the second half. Miami defensive players dropped four interceptions in the game and had a series of head-scratching penalties. Ole Miss had a 24-19 lead before Toney took a screen pass from Beck for a 36-yard TD with 5:04 remaining for a 24-19 lead.
Ole Miss got the ball back with 5:04 remaining, and Chambliss continued his heater that led the Rebels to a 39-34 victory in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. Chambliss threw a 24-yard TD pass to Dae'Quan Wright with 3:13 remaining for a 27-24 lead. Miami answered with a 15-play, 75-yard drive led by Beck, who finished 23 of 37 for 268 yards, two TDs and one interception.
Chambliss – who finished 23 of 37 for 277 yards and a TD – nearly led the Rebels to the CFP championship game. This was the team whose coach Lane Kiffin took the LSU job at the end of the regular season. Yet an instant classic that had four lead changes ended with Miami going home for the national championship.
Can Miami win the national championship?
This would only add to the "Madness." Consider that since 2014, only one men's basketball team that held the No. 1 overall seed going into the NCAA Tournament has won the national championship. That was No. 1 UConn, which won back-to-back national titles. The previous season, the Huskies beat No. 5 Miami in the Final Four.
Were those Hurricanes under Jim Larranaga any more of a long-shot than the ones on the football field that have burned through No. 7 Texas A&M and No. 2 Ohio State – the defending national champion – before beating the Rebels on Thursday?
Miami's defense has injuries. A defense that had 12 sacks in the first two rounds with Rueben Bain Jr. Had just one sack against the Rebels. Yet Miami coach Mario Cristobal has found a way to push this team into the championship game with a patient running game – Miami had 51 rushing attempts while Ole Miss had 21 with Mark Fletcher Jr. Totaling 22 carries for 133 yards – and Beck is now 37-5 as a starter.
They'll be in their backyard too, the unintended home-field advantage that will come with a list of Miami icons watching from the sidelines. Did anybody think this was possible when the Hurricanes played their final home game in the regular season against NC State on Nov. 15 before five straight wins away from home?
There is only one word for that.
Madness.