On Thursday morning, ESPN’s Heather Dinich released her list of 20 programs who could make the College Football Playoff and Miami made the cut.

The Hurricanes, who are coming off a 7-5 season and have first-year head coach Mario Cristobal in charge, are widely viewed as a potential ACC contender. Quarterback Tyler Van Dyke and left tackle Zion Nelson are amongst the most talented players at their respective positions in the country.

Dinich noted Miami’s talent and potential impressive résumé when putting the Canes in this tier. If Miami is a CFP contender, it would conceivably have road wins over Texas A&M, Clemson and Virginia Tech. The Canes would also presumably play Clemson again — or perhaps a talented NC State team — in the ACC Championship.

However, losses to Texas A&M and/or Clemson could significantly limit Miami’s upside to make a CFP semifinal. Here’s an excerpt of analysis from Dinich:

“Yes, Miami could redeem a regular-season loss to Clemson in the ACC championship game if they win their respective divisions, but there’s not enough on the rest of the schedule for a two-loss ACC champ to finish in the top four without some chaos elsewhere.”

Miami opens the 2022 season with Bethune-Cookman on Sept. 3.