CBS Sports projects that the Miami Hurricanes will earn a berth in the 12u2011team College Football Playoff, slotting them in as the No. 9 seed and pairing them with No. 8 seed LSU for the opening round.
In its recently released 2025–26 bowl and playoff projections, CBS placed Penn State, Texas, Ohio State and Clemson as the top four seeds, which are teams expected to earn first-round byes. Miami is among the seven at-large selections projected to fill out the remaining playoff spots.
There seems to be a growing confidence in Miami’s roster as the program builds from a 10-win 2024 season (10–3, 6–2 ACC) under coach Mario Cristobal, the Hurricanes’ best since 2017.