The Miami Hurricanes are 2-0 in this year’s CFP. Alex Slitz / Getty Images
The Miami Hurricanes not only stunned Ohio State on New Year’s Eve, but they also stunned Las Vegas.
Entering the Cotton Bowl as 9.5-point underdogs, quarterback Carson Beck and the Canes notched the biggest point-spread upset in the 12-year history of the College Football Playoff with their 24-14 victory in the quarterfinals Wednesday.
Maybe the oddsmakers won’t make Miami as big of an underdog anymore in this season’s Playoff. The Hurricanes are 2-0, having dispatched Texas A&M 10-3 in the first round. They will play the winner of the New Year’s Day Sugar Bowl game between Georgia and Ole Miss.
According to SportsOddsHistory.com, these were the next-biggest upsets in CFP history by point spread. The field consisted of four teams from the 2014 season through the 2023 season and was expanded to 12 teams last season.
TCU (+7.5) 51, Michigan 45, 2022 semifinals
Horned Frogs quarterback Max Duggan passed for two touchdowns and ran for two, and the TCU defense scored twice on interception returns to shock head coach Jim Harbaugh’s Wolverines.
Ohio State (+7.5) 42, Alabama 35, 2014 semifinals
Future Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott ran for 230 yards to set a Sugar Bowl record and Buckeyes quarterback Cardale Jones — in his second career start — threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to Devin Smith that gave the Buckeyes the lead for good. The former third-string QB finished with 243 passing yards to beat Nick Saban’s squad.
Ohio State (+7) 49, Clemson 28, 2020 semifinals
The Buckeyes’ Justin Fields threw six touchdown passes and Trey Sermon rushed for 193 yards as the Buckeyes racked up 639 yards of total offense to defeat Trevor Lawrence and the Tigers.
Clemson (+6.5) 35, Alabama 31, 2016 championship
Deshaun Watson passed to Hunter Renfrow for a 2-yard touchdown with one second left in the game for the winning score. A little more than two minutes earlier, future Super Bowl champion quarterback Jalen Hurts ran for a 30-yard touchdown and a short-lived Alabama lead.
Ohio State (+5.5) 42, Oregon 20, 2014 championship
Elliott ran for 246 yards and four touchdowns to help defeat Ducks QB Marcus Mariota (333 yards, 2 TDs) in the first-ever CFP championship game.