Miami’s CFP Run Nets $14M So Far—and Canes Keep It All

No. 10 Miami earned far more than just bragging rights by upsetting No. 2 Ohio State 24-14 in the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Eve. The Hurricanes will also walk away with $6 million in College Football Playoff prize money for advancing to the CFP semifinals, bringing their total prize money from this year’s postseason to $14 million. 

While the CFP distributes those funds to conferences, the ACC will give Miami the full amount, Front Office Sports confirmed Thursday. 

Playoff Payoff

Every year, the CFP distributes more than $100 million in prize payouts to conferences based on how far their respective teams advance. This year, schools can earn up to $20 million each for their conferences.

For every team that made it into the 12-team field, conferences receive $4 million this year. They received another $4 million for making it to the quarterfinals. The payouts go up to $6 million for making it to the semifinals and national championship. (Notre Dame also gets these same prize payouts and keeps them all for itself; the Irish went all the way to the championship last year, but this year missed the Playoff.)

Conferences can distribute payouts as they see fit. The ACC will allow the Hurricanes to keep all $14 million they’ve earned so far, FOS confirmed Thursday. Miami will also be able to keep the $3 million it receives in Playoff travel expenses for each round.

New Incentives

The ACC’s distribution system is part of the conference’s new success incentives program, which ACC presidents voted on in May 2023. The program allows schools to earn extra conference revenue based on their performance in postseason tournaments in football and men’s and women’s basketball—all of which distribute prize payouts.

The ACC also offers success initiatives based on television ratings—a stipulation of the conference’s settlement with FSU and Clemson in 2024 that resolved litigation resulting from the two schools exploring leaving the conference.

The ACC’s success incentives have been discussed as a model for other conferences, particularly as conference realignment has made conferences bigger, while few marquee brands often continue to earn the lion’s share of revenue for all of the schools.

$6 Million Prize

The first game on New Year’s Day—the Orange Bowl between No. 4 Texas Tech and No. 5 Oregon—also yielded an upset as the Ducks knocked out the Red Raiders behind a dominant defense. Top-seeded Indiana cruised past No. 9 Alabama in the Rose Bowl, despite a major rainstorm in Pasadena before kickoff. And No. 3 Georgia fell to No. 6 Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl. 

The semifinal slate: Miami vs. Ole Miss on Jan. 8 in the Fiesta Bowl, and Oregon vs. Indiana in the Peach Bowl on Jan. 9. 

The CFP awards $6 million for each team that makes the semifinals.