When it came down to the selection for the 12 teams for the College Football Playoff last month, the biggest question was who was going to be the final team in the field, Miami or Notre Dame? If it ended up being the Irish, then that would mean that the ACC was going to be shut out of the field.
You might ask why the ACC would have been shut out of the field if the conference champs automatically make the field? Well, the Hurricanes didn't even make the ACC Championship Game. That was between Duke and Virginia. A Cavaliers win, and they would have been the ACC rep in the CFP. A Duke win, then the ACC has a real shot of being shut out because the Blue Devils were not ranked.
In typical Virginia fashion, one week after beating the worst Virginia Tech team in 20 years to get into the ACC title game, they choked away their chance to make the CFP by falling to the Blue Devils in the ACC Championship Game. They were still hungover from celebrating a rare win over Virginia Tech a week later and choked away their best shot for a long time to make the CFP. Typical Virginia.
However, their loss opened the door for Miami to make the CFP, and now, they're one win away from a National Championship.
Virginia's choke job leaves Miami one win away from National Championship
If Virginia had beaten Duke, they would have made the CFP. Instead, they completely choked away the game in typical UVA fashion, which opened the door for Miami. The Hurricanes are taking full advantage, and after wins at Texas A&M in the first round, against defending champion Ohio State in the quarterfinals, and Ole Miss in the semifinals, they are one win away against either Oregon or Indiana from a National Championship.
Oh, and that game will be played 20 minutes from the Hurricanes campus in Miami. A home game for the most part. Mario Cristobal now owes Virginia and Tony Elliott a big thank you.