College Football Playoff bracket: Miami may have only one path to CFP now

After weeks of death-defying escapes, the bill finally came due for Miami on Saturday. Cam Ward did his darnedest, but Georgia Tech's defensive front harassed him all afternoon, and a shaky Hurricanes defense was gashed on the ground to the tune of 282 yards in a 28-23 upset loss in Atlanta.

It's a loss that felt like it was a long time coming, and it turns up the anxiety on what had been a dream season for the 'Canes. Miami's goals are all still in front of them; a spot in the ACC title game is very much in play, even if one-loss Clemson and Pittsburgh teams are also in the running, and the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff field gives every team at least one mulligan. But while Miami isn't dead yet, its margin for error certainly is, and the one team that felt like a shoo-in for the CFP now has just one treacherous path to the playoff.

Miami has just one College Football Playoff path remaining after loss to Georgia Tech

If we learned anything from the initial College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday, it's that the committee has a lot more respect for the Big 10 and SEC than it does for the ACC and Big 12. Miami occupied the fourth and final automatic spot, while one-loss SMU found itself on the outside looking in and one-loss Pitt barely cracked the top 25 at all. This simply isn't that strong of a conference, and the Canes miss both Clemson and SMU this season, denying them two big chances for marquee wins.

That was fine when Mario Cristobal's crew were taking care of business, but it's a problem with one loss on the resume. If Miami finds its way into the ACC title game and wins, then this is obviously moot. The path to an at-large spot, however, is perilous. Another loss in the regular season would seem sure to drop the Canes behind fellow two-loss teams in the SEC, and even a loss in the ACC title game would leave them vulnerable given the lack of big wins this season. At this point, Miami is really hoping for a Virginia Tech resurgence to close the season, which would offer another top 25 win on top of the victory at Louisville.

Still, Miami was lucky to escape both of those matchups, and neither figure to be inside the top 20 when all is said and done. Even if Miami wins its final three regular-season games, tiebreaker scenarios could leave it outside the top two in the ACC and take an auto bid to the CFP off the table. Would the committee really opt for a one-loss Miami that finished third in the league over, say, two-loss Alabama or LSU? What about Iowa State or Kansas State, if their second loss comes in the Big 12 title game? The math could get very dicey now that the perfect record has been punctured.