The committee obviously values brands when they decide who gets ranked where, even if it’s not a part of their official criteria. Even a bump into the ACC hasn’t benefitted SMU this year in the new, expanded College Football Playoff.

SMU’s slim chance of making the 12-team field as a second ACC team pretty much evaporated when the previously undefeated Hurricanes lost to unranked Georgia Tech, dropping Miami from fourth to ninth in the committee’s second round of rankings.

The second College Football Playoff rankings were released on Tuesday night, and while there were some major shake-ups, even more drama is expected to unfold in