Miami rose to No. 1 in the US LBM Coaches Poll because of its unbeaten record and has stayed at No. 1 for the same reason.
And that’s OK. There are 138 teams in the Bowl Subdivision and just three (No. 5 Utah and No. 7 UCLA) are still without a loss. After playing in the College Football Playoff
national title game last year and opening this crazy season ranked No. 7, the Hurricanes have been a solid choice for No. 1.Being the top-ranked hasn’t necessarily translated to Miami being seen as the best team in college football. We’re still waiting on that, and won’t know anything until a week from now at the earliest.
The Hurricanes haven’t lived up to their ranking in recent wins against Florida State and North Carolina, needing double overtime and some
controversial refereeing to get past the Seminoles and then trailing UNC with eight minutes to play on Saturday before scrambling for a 38-35 win.
While FSU and the Tar Heels may be more competitive than their respective records (3-5 and 4-4), no one is confusing either with the type of win to brag about.
That hasn’t helped Miami overcome some skepticism due to its easy road to 8-0. So far, the Hurricanes have just one ranked win, 33-20 against No. 15 Wake Forest. While the Demon Deacons are very good, that win just doesn’t land nationally.
In one way or another, things are about to change for Miami. Are the Hurricanes ready?
This coming Saturday, Miami will travel to No. 6 Notre Dame in one of the most highly anticipated games of the regular season. And one of the most important, too: Notre Dame can’t afford to lose without sweating out the College Football Playoff.
Even if the Hurricanes have a wider path to the playoff, the stakes in South Bend will be significant.
A win goes a long way toward justifying the ranking. Even if the Fighting Irish have also played down to their competition at times, this type of quality victory on the road would at minimum quiet the critics of Miami’s schedule.
Looking ahead, Miami would have two impressive wins to show the playoff selection committee heading into the second weekly rankings. If the committee is torn over placing Miami ahead of a one-loss team such as No. 3 Georgia, a win in South Bend might shift some thinking.
And a loss would drop the Hurricanes in the playoff rankings and could have major fallout on the ACC. That conference wants to send two teams to the playoff but would be in a tough position to do so if the Irish own a win against Miami.
Then there’d be the damage to Miami’s reputation. Needing two overtimes to beat FSU and a fourth-quarter comeback to win in Chapel Hill hasn’t exactly painted Miami as a juggernaut. Losing to the Irish would feed into that.
Then again, maybe this is getting ahead of ourselves. Can a team that barely escaped UNC really win at Notre Dame?
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Miami still No. 1 after narrow win against North Carolina but skeptics remain
