Miami Hurricanes Still Belong Among College Football Elite

Fox Sports’ Stewart Mandel recently published a controversial article updating his list of the rankings of college football’s elite programs. He still has the Miami Hurricanes as one of the Kings of College Football.

The Miami Hurricanes place on the list was questioned by several, including FanSided’s Florida State Blog Chop Chat. Questioning Miami’s place on the list misses Mandel’s criteria for inclusion.

Chop Chat’s post examined the Hurricanes Wins and losses, their place in the recruiting rankings, and prestige. Mandel’s rankings were broken down into ” Kings, Knights, Barons and Peasants”

Mandel mentions in the post that the rankings should not be examined more than once every five years. He said: “Most programs’ prestige levels are too deeply entrenched to change much based on a couple of good or bad years.”

The genesis of the rankings occurred when a fan wrote to Mandell.

"“A reader asked me to rank the nation’s power-conference schools by “prestige and place in the national scene.”"

Mandell explained what his considered a national power or the Kings:

"“National power” is defined by “something more than wins and losses. It’s a certain cachet or aura. It’s the way a program is perceived by the public.”"

There is no denying that Miami has been mediocre at best for ten years on the field. The Hurricanes won their first bowl game in ten years last fall and have not won a major bowl game since the 2003 season.

In spite of that, Miami has continued to have multiple players drafted in each season, has the iconic logo that most sports fans will recognize and definitely has a cachet and aura that is perceived by the public.

Mandel addressed the controversy surrounding the Hurricanes place on the list:

"“I suppose one could make much the same argument (as Mandel did with downgrading Nebraska from King to Baron) against five-time national champ Miami remaining among the kings. The ‘Canes have not won more than nine games in a season since 2003. But I’d argue the “U” still carries a ton of cachet given its alums’ heavy presence in the NFL — and recruits agree.”"

Mandel examined 66 schools on his list. The list is made up of the teams from the Power Five conferences plus Notre Dame and Brigham Young. His explanation of how he determined the rankings was:

"“That perception is derived in large part both by a program’s historical achievements and its more recent accomplishments, but it also encompasses everything from TV contracts to iconic uniforms to famed mascots to … yes, helmets. Prestige arguably shows itself most directly in the annual recruiting rankings, where we usually see the same group of programs finish in the roughly the same range year-in, year-out, regardless of annual ebbs and flows in their win-loss columns.”"

His list of the “Kings” of College Football is:

Alabama
Clemson
Florida
Florida State
LSU
Miami
Michigan
Nebraska
Notre Dame
Ohio State
Oklahoma
Penn State
Texas
USC

We could also add NFL draftees and presence to that list. Miami has had 45 players drafted in the last ten seasons. The Hurricanes are still fourth all-time with 65 first round draft picks. Only USC, Ohio State and Notre Dame have had more. Five of those picks have come in the last ten drafts.

Picture courtesy of NCAA.Com

There are many other reasons to consider the Hurricanes among the Kings of College Football. In addition to the Nation’s top ranked recruiting class for 2018, Mark Richt has been done a lot in his 18 months leading the program.

Miami recently broke ground on the new Soffer indoor practice facility. The renovations at Hard Rock stadium make it one of the elite venues in college football.

Related Story: Miami Hurricanes Hold Groundbreaking for Carol Soffer Football Facility

The Hurricanes have been criticized for not having an on-campus venue. That has never hindered them. The players get a chance to play in an NFL venue that will host a Super Bowl and is likely to host the College Football Championship game at some point.

Next: Miami Hurricanes 2001 NFL Draft Continued Legendary Streak

While they haven’t proven it on the field, off the field, getting players to the NFL and the soon to be state of the art facilities still put the Hurricanes among the “Kings” of College Football.