UM Making Moves in (Revised) Preseason Top 25 Rankings

The Canes are ranked as high as No. 15 in Top 25s that omit Big Ten and Pac-12 teams

The University of Miami is already climbing in the Top 25 rankings, even before taking the field for its Sept. 10 opener against Alabama-Birmingham. One recently-released Top 25 ranking has the surging Canes at No. 15.

Yes, we’re talking about revised Top 25s that don’t include teams from the Big Ten and Pac-12, which plan on postponing their fall football seasons until the spring.

So far, 76 FCS schools plan on playing in the fall with 54 postponing their season until spring.

UM isn’t ranked in the preseason Amway Coaches Top 25 (UM coach Manny Diaz is a voter) and it likely won’t be ranked in the AP preseason Top 25 because it will include Big Ten and Pac-12 teams. The AP Top 25 is set to be released Monday.

Here’s a look at UM in some recent revised Top 25s.

--Yahoo! Sports has UM ranked No. 15 in its latest Top 25, which was released Wednesday. Their new Top 25 omits teams from the Big Ten, Pac-12, Mountain West and MAC. That means teams that were in their original Top 25 – No. 2 Ohio State, No. 7 Oregon, No. 9 Penn State, No. 14 USC, No. 15 Wisconsin, No. 16 Michigan and No. 21 Minnesota are out. Here’s Yahoo! Said about the Canes: “Miami’s defense has been very good for the past three seasons. The offense has not. Houston transfer QB D’Eriq King is now the man to push Miami’s offense over 30 points per game for the first time since 2016. King is immediately eligible at Miami after playing just four games and redshirting in 2019. He completed over 60 percent of his passes for nearly 5,000 yards and rushed for over 1,400 yards in his Houston career. And Florida fans are well aware that he started ahead of Kyle Trask in high school.”

--The Sporting News released its latest Top 25 on Thursday. TSN has the Hurricanes ranked No. 17. It omitted 10 teams from its original Top 25. Here’s what TSN said about the Canes: “A 14-0 loss to Louisiana Tech in last year's Independence Bowl was the shakeup this program needed. The 6-7 season is in the rear-view mirror for second-year coach Manny Diaz. The Hurricanes hired offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee from SMU, and Houston transfer quarterback D'Eriq King should be productive in that scheme. Star defensive end Gregory Rousseau opted out, but the Hurricanes picked up Temple transfer Quincy Roche. The Hurricanes have one of the tougher schedules in the conference, with road trips to Clemson, Louisville and Virginia Tech.”

--CBSSports.com has UM ranked No. 20 in its latest Top 25. It placed Auburn and Texas A&M in its revised Top 10, which was released Tuesday. Here’s what CBSSports.com said about Miami: “The arrival of D'Eriq King alone provides plenty of intrigue for college football fans curious of what lies ahead for Manny Diaz in Year 2 as coach. The staff has been recruiting really well in the 2021 cycle, but there's a ton of uncertainty for this group in the fall 2020 season. Gregory Rousseau has opted out, but Jaelan Phillips (former No. 1 high school prospect, now eligible after a transfer from UCLA) takes his spot as the team's top-end edge rusher. Will King and new offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee bring the Canes offense up to speed with a defense that has been pretty solid even through recent disappointments?”