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With their 31–27 semifinal win over No. 6 Ole Miss on Thursday night, the No. 10 Miami Hurricanes just earned themselves their first-ever College Football Playoff national championship berth—and $20 million to boot.
That’s because the ACC allows its members to keep 100% of the prize money they earn during the CFP—and is the only power conference to do so.
The College Football Playoff distributes more than $100 million in prize payouts to conferences every year based on how well their teams fare in the postseason: $4 million for each school that gets into the CFP, $4 million for advancing to the quarterfinals, $6 million for advancing to the semifinals, and $6 million for advancing to the national championship. Conferences then distribute those funds at their discretion.
Last season, the ACC began a new success incentives program, which allows schools to keep the money they earn in the postseason for football as well as men’s and women’s basketball. Last year, SMU and Clemson both pocketed the $4 million they earned for appearing in the CFP. Miami, which has earned $20 million total, will also pocket the money as part of that program.
Miami also gets the full $3 million allotted to cover travel expenses for each round. That’s almost an extra $3 million, given that they won’t have to go anywhere to play in the national championship—the game will be held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on Jan. 19. (And yes, Miami is the first program in the CFP era to play in its home stadium during a national championship.)
Meanwhile, Big Ten and Big 12 schools are required by their conferences to share the money equally beyond travel expenses. SEC schools take a set amount between $3 million and $4 million for each round, as well as travel expenses; the rest is put in a pool for all SEC schools to share.
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