What to know about College Football Playoff with regard to UM. And Cristobal’s updates

The Miami Hurricanes not only have put themselves in good position to make the new 12-team College Football Playoff if they keep winning, but they also could get a first-round bye if they advance through the regular season unscathed (or nearly unscathed) and win the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Game.

Yes, it’s early for such talk, with UM (3-0) just a quarter of the way through the regular season heading into Saturday’s game at USF (7 p.m., ESPN).

But for those unfamiliar with the rules of the new playoff system, here’s a quick primer:

▪ If the Hurricanes win the ACC championship, they would very likely get a first-round playoff bye. That’s because the four highest-ranked conference champions will get the top four seeds and a first-round bye in the new 12-team playoff.

While it’s likely that the champions of the Southeastern Conference, Big 10, Big 12 and ACC will get the top four seeds, it’s not out of the question that an undefeated champion from another conference (American Athletic Conference, Conference USA, Mid-American Conference, Mountain West and Sun Belt) could claim a top-four seed and knock the ACC or Big 12 champion to a lower seed.

There are currently 10 undefeated teams from those five non-marquee conferences. Northern Illinois, at No. 23, is the highest-ranked among those teams in the latest Associated Press poll. Miami is ranked eighth.

The five highest-ranked conference champions will get automatic bids. But only the top four seeds get a first-round bye.

The fifth conference champion will be seeded in the same position it was ranked inside the top 12 (or at No. 12 overall, if it finished outside the top 12 rankings). The remaining at-large teams will be ranked between No. 5 and No. 12.

▪ If UM wins the ACC and gets a first-round bye, it would open postseason on Dec. 31 or Jan. 1 in a quarterfinal game at the Fiesta, Peach, Rose or Sugar bowls.

▪ The eight teams that don’t get a first-round bye play first-round series, with the fifth seed hosting the 12th seed on the fifth seed’s campus, the sixth seed hosting the 11th seed and so forth.

▪ Because the top four seeds are reserved for conference champions, Notre Dame can never have a first-round bye.

▪ After first-round games are complete, the No. 1 seeded team will play the winner of the No. 8-9 game. The No. 2 seed plays the winner of 7-10 game, while the No. 3 seed will play the winner of the 6-11 game. And the No. 4 seed will meet the winner of the 5-12 game.

Those four quarterfinal games will be played at four of the New Year’s Six bowls; the playoff committee will assign bowls based on seeding and historical ties to conferences.

So if a Big Ten team is the No. 1 seed, the committee would put its quarterfinal game in the Rose Bowl.

▪ The higher seed will get preferential treatment for bowl placement in the semifinals. This year’s semifinals are at the Orange Bowl (Jan. 9) and Cotton Bowl (Jan. 10).

So if the Canes were the highest-remaining seed to make the semifinals, they could be assigned to the Orange Bowl.

▪ No efforts will be made to avoid regular-season rematches.

▪ The championship game will be Jan. 20 in Atlanta.

▪ Here’s the first-round playoff schedule:

Friday, Dec. 20: A first-round game on ABC and ESPN at 8 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 21: First-round games on TNT at noon and 4 p.m., and a first-round game on ABC and ESPN at 8 p.m.

▪ Here’s when and where quarterfinal games will be played, with all games on ESPN: Tuesday, Dec. 31 at 7:30 p.m. in Tempe, Arizona… in Atlanta at 1 p.m. Jan. 1; in Pasadena, California, at 5 p.m. Jan. 1; and in New Orleans at 8:45 p.m. on Jan. 1.

THIS AND THAT

Some notes from UM coach Mario Cristobal’s Monday WQAM segment with Joe Rose:

▪ He said injured offensive guard Anez Cooper will be back soon and said left tackle Jalen Rivers also will return. He said later in the day that both will play on Saturday at USF.

▪ It seems as though Emory Williams is the backup quarterback, though UM would redshirt him if it is able. To redshirt, a player cannot appear in more than four games.

“We know what we have in Emory, man,” Cristobal said after Williams completed 11 of 12 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown in the second half of the blowout of Ball State, his first appearance of the season.

“The guy is a complete stud. Should have been 12 for 12. His commitment to excellence, trying to be the absolute best he can be is off the charts. It was great to get him in there and play real football.”

In response to a question about Williams and Reese Poffenbarger, Cristobal said: “Emory is ready to go God forbid there be a situation” with Ward and an injury.

▪ Cristobal, on freshman O.J. Frederique, who continues to impress as a starter: “He’s one of those guys that if you don’t recruit, do your homework, he’ll go to some other school and end up in the NFL. Elite human being. O.J. is relentless about his craft and unfazed. We throw him out there in Gainesville from play 1 and the guy never flinched. And he plays with an edge.”

▪ Cristobal said USF is “the best team that we’ve played.”