If Miami Becomes Great Again, Will It Be As Hated As It Once Was?

There's a reason Miami was once hated but are those days gone forever?

From the Mid-1980s through the mid-2000s, the Miami Hurricanes were often labeled as the bad boys of college football.

According to the American Football Database and looking at Miami's meteoric rise from the 1983 through 1991 seasons, the Hurricanes backed up the brazen on-field talk with a record of 96-13, an incredible 88.1% winning percentage. 

During that stretch, the Hurricanes won four national titles from the 1983, 1987, 1989, and 1991 seasons. Miami also came close to winning it all in 1986 and 1988.

Opposing fans probably grew tired of seeing Miami win and that would be a part of the reason the Canes are not all that well-liked. There's still the prime reason that CBS Sports podcaster Josh Pate brings up how Miami could once again be the most hated team in college football. 

"Seeing a whole new generation of people, from Virginia, to Nevada, and everywhere in between, discover, 'Wow! I, like my forefathers, also have a hatred for Miami that I never knew existed.'"

To be clear, Pate is referring to young people hating Miami in the same way that opposing fans from Miami's glory days did. 

I disagree. Here's why.

Showboating, taunting, and flat-out telling everyone they would win. Those are some of the things that the Canes of old used to do. For anyone who was not yet born and unable to watch Miami during that timeframe, saying they were brash would be an understatement. There was one game that probably gave the Hurricanes their reputation more than any other.

From the Jan. 1, 1991 Cotton Bowl game, the Hurricanes had a whopping 15 penalties and 201 yards in penalties. Many of those were of the taunting variety. Some of the modern rules about showboating probably came from that game, at least in part.

Those days are gone.

College football rules do not tolerate taunting like it did in the 1980s and into the early 1990s. Therefore, I believe it is unlikely Miami would ever be viewed in the exact same way it once was, regardless of how much it wins.

To some degree, perhaps, but those thoughts would likely come from people who also watched Miami showboating during its days of being coached by Jimmy Johnson and Dennis Erickson.

People younger than 30 were not alive during Miami's reign. I do not believe they would hold the same dislike for Miami the way some people who grew up watching Miami win titles.

Regardless of whether someone believes Pate's take, mine, or someplace in between, it's a great conversation piece.