If The Hurricanes Keep Winning, They Will Move Up In The Polls, Despite the Bias
The No. 8 Miami Hurricanes are not just beating teams. They are destroying teams. It started with the season opener at The Swamp against the Florida Gators.
It then continued with convincing wins over Florida A&M and Ball State.
The last two games were not against big opponents, but Miami (3-0) took care of its business early and put the game away by halftime, which allowed Mario Cristobal to empty his bench and play much of his roster. Cristobal said it appropriately before Ball State. If you play down to the level of your opponent, as opposed to maintaining your own standards, one Saturday you are going to lose.
Let's hope that does not happen on Saturday against the University of South Florida, which has a tenacious defense.
Miami started the season ranked No. 19 in the Associated Press poll and has worked its way up to No. 8. However, Miami is much better than that. This is the floor for this team, not the ceiling.
The Canes have not gotten enough style points for their convincing win in Gainesville. They didn't get enough love after the last two blowouts. However, they are much better than several teams in front of them. For those reasons, Miami is ranked too low.
I know it doesn't matter where you start, it's where you finish. However, the Canes are continuously disrespected because of the hatred against them. They are also prejudiced by the fact they are in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Should Miami beat the University of South Florida on Saturday, in Tampa, a case can be made Miami belongs among the Top 5.
Miami is better than No. 7 Missouri and No. 6 Tennessee. Take it to the bank. Missouri struggled with Boston College. If they were all that and a bag of chips, they should have defeated them handily. They had to come back to win 27-21.
Tennessee is going to get smoked at Oklahoma this weekend. Oklahoma is a tough place to play. Undefeated teams go to Oklahoma and come home with an L too many times to remember. Brett Venables is going to have his team ready to play and they will escape with the victory.
Tennessee beat Kent State last week 71-0. Poor Kent State travels to Penn State this week. Talk about two bad weeks. At least they are money games. Kent State will make a pretty penny to get their tails kicked by an SEC school and a Big 10 school, on the road.
Ole Miss is for real. Lane Kiffin has built a great team, much like Miami, by recruiting well and hitting the transfer portal hard.
The top three of four are frauds. They are always over ranked and given too much credit based upon name recognition only.
Texas, Alabama and Georgia are all good teams, don't get me wrong. However, every season they are ranked too high and stay there because the SEC is filled with cupcakes.
Georgia must play Alabama next Saturday on the road. Three weeks later they must host Texas. If Texas loses to Georgia, it should drop out of the top five. Georgia will lose to Alabama and then they should drop out of the top 5. Assuming Miami keeps winning, they will find a home in the top five.
Georgia is not a great team. They beat up a sorry Clemson team in Week 0 as Dabo Swinney continues to have his own problems. No great victory. Georgia had to score a touchdown in the fourth quarter to win a squeaker against Kentucky 13-12 last weekend. They were the No. 1 team in the country at that point. They should have blown them out. They should have dropped out of the top five.
After Miami handles its business in Tampa on Saturday, the Canes need to be placed in the top five. Miami will then be set up to get one of the top four seeds in the College Football Playoff as they are en route to a national championship.
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SCOTT SALOMON
Scott Salomon joined On SI in April 2024 covering breaking news and analysis for the Miami Dolphins site, and has since contributed to the Miami Heat, Back in the Day NBA, Miami Hurricanes and San Antonio Spurs sites. Scott is based in South Florida and has been covering the local and national sports scene for 35 years. He's covered and has been credentialed for the Super Bowl, the NFL Combine, various Orange Bowls and college football championship games. Scott was also credentialed for the NBA All-Star game and covered the Miami Heat during their first six seasons for USA TODAY. Scott is a graduate of the University of Miami School of Communication and the St. Thomas University School of Law. Scott has two sons and his hobbies include watching sports on television and binge watching shows on various streaming services.