Are the Miami Hurricanes Still Playoff Contenders?
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Reactionary is what the Miami Hurricanes fan base and the entire college football world are right now. No. 2 Miami was upset by a good Louisville Cardinals team that, with all their mistakes, almost came back and won the game.
Consequently, the national championship hopes took a hit on Friday night for the Hurricanes. However, this could be a blessing in disguise for the Canes, who tried to avoid the "rat poison" but eventually got a taste of it.
Moreover, their ACC Championship hopes might be in the dust because of this loss. That could also be a reactionary statement, but with the top of the ACC so far, the Canes fell behind, and with the lack of true contenders in their schedule, it could come back to bite them.
Whose left for the Hurricanes?
- Week 9: Saturday, Oct. 25 – Stanford* – Miami Gardens, Fla. – Hard Rock Stadium
- Week 10: Saturday, Nov. 1 – at SMU* – Dallas, Texas – Gerald J. Ford Stadium
- Week 11: Saturday, Nov. 8 – Syracuse* – Miami Gardens, Fla. – Hard Rock Stadium
- Week 12: Saturday, Nov. 15 – NC State* – Miami Gardens, Fla. – Hard Rock Stadium
- Week 13: Saturday, Nov. 22 – at Virginia Tech* – Blacksburg, Va. – Lane Stadium
- Week 14: Saturday, Nov. 29 – at Pittsburgh* – Pittsburgh, Pa. – Acrisure Stadium
The Hurricanes still have a favorable record in ACC play. Their next game is against Stanford at home, which could be the perfect way to take some anger out for what happened against the Cards. It gets interesting with they travel to Dallas and face SMU. The following games are still winnable; they just have to play B+ games for the rest of the season.
The only issue now is that they have to root for an unlikely source in the Duke Blue Devils and Manny Diaz. The Blue Devils will face No. 12 Georgia Tech, and if another upset victory happens, then it could be a clear path for the Canes back to the ACC Championship game.
For the playoffs, they have a good resume that, if they went 11-1 and missed the ACC Championship game, they would still be a lock. This loss was a setback, but it wasn't the end of the world if you looked at it online.
The Hurricanes have some "get right" games ahead of them, but nothing will be easy now they they are playing on their back foot.
Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University and is the site lead for the Miami Hurricanes on SI. He can be reached at Twitter @Justice_News5.
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Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University earning a Bachelor of Arts and Science in Communications with a concentration in Print and Digital Journalism. During his time in Starkville, he spent a year as an intern working for Mississippi State On SI primarily covering basketball, football, baseball, and soccer while writing, recording, and creating multimedia stories during his tenor. Since graduating, he has assumed the role of lead staff writer for Miami Hurricanes On SI covering football, basketball, baseball, and all things Hurricanes related.