CFP takeaways: Miami's Fiesta Bowl win over Ole Miss ends SEC superiority 

The Miami Hurricanes are back in college football's National Championship Game for the first time since the 2002 season. Their 31-27 win over Ole Miss on Thursday night in the Fiesta Bowl punched their ticket to the National Championship Game, where they will await the winner of Friday's game between Big Ten rivals Indiana and Oregon. 

Miami will also be playing for the National Championship in its home stadium, as this year's championship game will be played at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. The Hurricanes are the first team in the College Football Playoff era to play a National Championship Game in their home stadium. 

It is not just a huge win for Miami to put it back on a championship level. It is also a big moment for the landscape of college football as a whole.

Here are some key takeaways from Miami's win.

Miami's win over Ole Miss ends SEC superiority 

The SEC is still an objectively outstanding conference. It is still full of powerhouse programs that play big-time college football. But its time as the dominant power in college football is officially over. At least for now. At least until something changes in the conference when it comes to postseason play.

With Miami's win over Ole Miss, this will be the third consecutive year that the SEC will have been shut out of the National Championship Game.

SEC teams were also just 5-9 in playoff games over that stretch. 

You cannot call yourself the best conference or claim superiority over the sport as a whole when your conference is now consistently getting shut out of the biggest game of the season and not performing against the best teams from the other top conferences. 

Not only is the Big Ten beating them in these games, but now Miami, an ACC team, flexed its muscles against them this season with playoff wins over Texas A&M and Ole Miss.

Carson Beck's redemption season continues

There has been a lot of redemption for Beck — and Miami — this season.

Beck's 2024 season at Georgia was a bitter disappointment on an individual level, and it resulted in him remaining in school and transferring to Miami. After a couple of midseason losses and some inconsistent play from Beck, the Hurricanes' playoff chances seemed to be finished, or at the very least in real danger, especially as they fell short of the ACC Championship Game. 

But after getting an at-large bid into the playoff — as the final team in — the Hurricanes have now gone on a run and are one win away from writing a storybook finish.

Beck has also rebounded. While the overall passing numbers are similar, he has shined in the big moments and on Thursday scored the game-winning touchdown in the final minute of the fourth quarter.