ACC, Alabama lead CFP first-round winners and losers

AI-assisted summary
• Miami upset Texas A&M in a defensive battle, securing a significant win for the ACC in the College Football Playoff.
• Alabama overcame a 17-point deficit to defeat Oklahoma, setting up a Rose Bowl matchup against No. 1 Indiana.
• Oregon and Mississippi easily defeated their Group of Five opponents to advance to the quarterfinals.

No. 9 Alabama finally solved Brent Venables and No. 8 Oklahoma, No. 10 Miami won a defensive slugfest at No. 7 Texas A&M and No. 5 Oregon and No. 6 Mississippi had no trouble against the Group of Five to round out the opening round of the College Football Playoff.

While the Crimson Tide took the all-SEC matchup, then win by the Hurricanes in College Station is a feather in the cap for the ACC after the conference was nearly left out of the tournament entirely. In the end, Miami did what Notre Dame could not and beat the Aggies — and on the road, no less.

The two upsets in the opening round came after all four favorites held serve to open last year’s 12-team playoff debut.

As a gift for beating the Sooners, the Crimson Tide will face off in the Rose Bowl against No. 1 Indiana. Over in the Cotton Bowl, No. 2 Ohio State will take on Miami. The Sugar Bowl will feature another SEC rematch with the Rebels taking on No. 3 Georgia, while No. 4 Texas Tech will face Oregon in the Orange Bowl.

Before heading to the quarterfinals, let’s break down why the ACC and Oklahoma lead the biggest winners and losers from the opening round:

Winners

The ACC

We touched on why this win means so much to the ACC: Duke won the conference with five losses and James Madison cruised to the Sun Belt title after Miami remained behind Notre Dame in the penultimate playoff rankings. There was a strong possibility the conference would not have a single team in the 12-team bracket. Still, the Hurricanes were a late and controversial addition to the field despite topping the Irish during the regular season. While not changing the fact the ACC was the weakest of the Power Four leagues during the regular season, to have Miami become the first team to beat A&M in College Station this year should be a huge confidence booster for the conference.

Miami

Miami ran for 175 yards on 6.3 yards per carry and was the tougher and more physical team in its 10-3 rock fight against A&M. Nearly every inch of the yardage belonged to running back Mark Fletcher Jr., who had 172 yards on 17 carries, including a 56-yard scamper during a fourth-quarter touchdown drive that broke a 3-3 tie. Defensively, the Hurricanes gave up 4.3 yards per play and delivered three key takeaways, including an interception in the end zone with 24 seconds left to seal the win. There’s still plenty to work on: Miami’s passing game sputtered, though Carson Beck did avoid any giveaways, and the kicking game made just one of four field goals. That won’t cut it against the Buckeyes.

Kalen DeBoer

It’s extremely easy to think about how the Alabama fan base would’ve turned on DeBoer had the Tide not tied for the largest comeback in playoff history by digging out of a 17-0 deficit in the second quarter. Another loss to Oklahoma might’ve even been enough to convince DeBoer to at least take a look at the Michigan opening, given the chance for a reboot in the Big Ten. But after missing the playoff entirely last year, DeBoer and Alabama nailed down a much-needed postseason win and can begin evaluating the nation’s only unbeaten team in the Hoosiers.

Oregon and Mississippi

Neither team broke a sweat, unless you count the roughly quarter-long span against Tulane where the Rebels treaded water after jumping out to an early lead. The Rebels’ owned the second half of a 41-10 win against the Green Wave while Oregon was all over James Madison from the start of a 51-34 romp. As expected, the feel-good underdog stories the Green Wave and Dukes brought to the table didn’t quite translate when lined up across from two of the most talented teams in the Power Four. For the first time in the 12-team era, we’ll see how playing a Group of Five team in the opening round prepares the winner for a top-four opponent in the quarterfinals.

Pete Golding

So far, so good for the new Rebels coach. Making his debut in the opening round against Tulane, Golding pushed the right buttons out of the gate to help Ole Miss spring out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. While things stagnated through the first half, with Ole Miss ahead 17-3, halftime adjustments sparked a 27-0 run coming out of the break to put the Green Wave away. A bigger test awaits in New Orleans.

Losers

The Group of Five

Don’t blame Tulane and James Madison. The Green Wave earned the automatic Group of Five berth baked into the playoff format. JMU benefited from Duke’s ACC championship, since the selection committee couldn’t possibly put a five-loss team in the bracket. But the two teams were extremely uncompetitive against dramatically more talented Power Four competition, losing to the Rebels and Ducks by a combined 48 points.

Oklahoma

This was a slow-motion train wreck from the point Oklahoma took a 17-0 lead about four minutes into the second quarter. From there, miscues and self-enforced errors doomed the Sooners, none bigger than punter Grayson Miller’s fumble and John Mateer’s interception in the second quarter that allowed the Crimson Tide to tie the game heading into halftime. All year long, Oklahoma’s blueprint was to create turnovers to boost an average offense. But the Sooners made the crucial errors to pave the way for Alabama’s comeback and lacked the offensive explosiveness to regain momentum after the Tide took control in the second half. It was still a significant rebound year for Oklahoma and Venables against one of the toughest schedules in the country.

Texas A&M

A&M outgained Miami, gave up just only three third-down conversions and 12 first downs, had a clear edge in time of possession, was penalized for only 15 yards and held Beck and the Hurricanes’ passing game in check — but still lost as a result of three turnovers and an inability to win the battle on the line of scrimmage. While Fletcher carried Miami’s offense, A&M managed just 89 yards on 35 carries and was held without a rushing touchdown for the first time all season.