No. 7 Miami’s rout of No. 3 Notre Dame all but guarantees ACC returning to playoff

The movie biz gets criticized for rushing sequels into production, but even Hollywood has to think the 2017 college football season was being a little aggressive.

Chaos, Part II came just a week after its predecessor, and No. 7 Miami dealt arguably the biggest blow. The Hurricanes took No. 3 Notre Dame out of the College Football Playoff conversation in a 41-3 beatdown on a Saturday that also saw No. 1 Georgia and No. 6 TCU fall.

Granted, the top-ranked team in the nation getting its doors blown off was a stunner, but it was no game-changer. Miami's win was though, (barring more of that dreaded chaos) for clearing a major hurdle for the ACC's postseason hopes.

There's still a strong chance that if Georgia were to take down Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, the one-loss Bulldogs could still make the final four.

The matchup is set in the ACC's finale, with the Hurricanes gifted their first Coastal Division crown after Louisville dumped Virginia 38-21 and No. 4 Clemson clinched a third straight Atlantic crown with a 31-14 win over Florida State.

Had the Fighting Irish won in Coral Gables, it would have seemed almost impossible for an ACC champion Miami to move ahead of a team it already lost to. Now, an unbeaten and conference champ Miami is surely CFP-bound and so would be a one-loss Clemson as ACC winners.

We can even throw in the scenario that if the Hurricanes lost a nail-biter to the Tigers, it's the ACC -- not the SEC -- that has a sliver of hope of putting two teams in the field of four.

The ACC's best defense mechanism was in taking Notre Dame out of the equation itself, something the Hurricanes did in truly emphatic fashion.

In South Bend they stir the echoes; in Miami they're stirring the echoes of a 2 Live Crew beat, breaking out the bling of the Turnover Chain four times (resulting in 24 Hurricanes points) and that heralded Notre Dame rushing attack had just 74 yards. The Irish's Heisman Trophy contender, Josh Adams, managed just 40 yards on 16 carries.So how much love will this truly dominating win get Mark Richt and Co. in the eyes of that 13-member selection committee? That's the 14 karat -- or whatever that chain is coming in at -- question.

They were trumpeting Georgia's place as No. 1 as being cemented by its win over Notre Dame; while the Irish were ranked above four other one-loss teams in the Top 10 because it had lost by just one point to those Bulldogs.

The Hurricanes got a shred of respect after dumping Virginia Tech by 18, but still were behind four one-loss teams. Now, they're one of just three undefeated Power-5 teams along with No. 2 Alabama -- which beat No. 16 Mississippi State 31-24 -- and No. 8 Wisconsin -- now 10-0 after topping No. 20 Iowa 38-14 -- and while it seems a given the Crimson Tide will ascend to No. 1 ... has Miami made its case?

If Georgia was boosted for edging Notre Dame, shouldn't a team that completely overwhelmed that same opponent get the same treatment?

Granted, Miami is playing the nation's 31st-ranked schedule per the Strength of Schedule metrics the CFP is using, but Alabama is 46th and Wisconsin comes in 73rd. The Tide did enter Week 11 at No. 1 in game control, winning by an average of 31.1 points, compared to the Wisconsin's ninth (22.8) and the Hurricanes' 15th (11.9).

But Miami wins out in Strength of Record (chance an average Top 25 team would have a record better than or equal to that team), coming in second to Alabama's fifth, while Wisconsin is eighth.

Despite the committee saying it starts each week with a clean slate, moving the Crimson Tide up a spot seems expected. Frankly, it would be stunning if that isn't what we see Tuesday night, even if the Hurricanes do make a compelling case.

The level of respect Miami has gained in these past two wins over Virginia Tech and Miami will be evident in whether there's another one-loss team ahead of the Hurricanes.

Clemson, despite its four wins over ranked opponents, has the worst loss of any one-loss team in falling to Syracuse, and while No. 5 Oklahoma just beat No. 6 TCU 38-20 and now has another Top-10 win to go with its victory over once-No. 2 Ohio State, the Sooners lost to now four-loss Iowa State.

Miami left little doubt, not only in trouncing the Irish, but doing its part to put the ACC in position to make it back to another College Football Playoff.