Anything less than making the College Football Playoff in 2025 would be a disappointment. David Hale of ESPN ranked 136 Football Bowl Subdivision teams ahead of the 2025 season in 20 tiers. Miami is in tier two titled playoff expectations with five other teams.
Ohio State and Texas are tier 1A, titled "Tier 1a: A great matchup for Week 1 and/or the championship game." Georgia, Oregon and Penn State are Tier 1b: The rest of the best. Miami is in the next tier with Alabama, Clemson, LSU, Michigan and Notre Dame.
Miami is the only one of the top 10 teams in the tier to never make the College Football Playoff.