Miami Hurricanes Drop out of Top 25 in Both Polls
After tough losses to Florida State and North Carolina at Hard Rock Stadium, the Miami Hurricanes have dropped out of the USA Today Coaches Poll and the Associated Press Top 25. The Hurricanes fell nine spots in both polls.
Miami is listed as others receiving votes in both polls. They are ranked 27th in the AP Poll and 28th in the Coaches Poll. Miami began the season unranked and moved into the top 25 after a 70-3 season-opening victory over Florida A&M.
Next up for Miami is Virginia Tech Thursday night. It might be good for the Hurricanes to have a short week after two tough losses. The college football polls are more volatile than the political polls. One game does not make the teams as good or bad as the polls indicate they are.
What appeared to be a showdown of two ranked teams in Blacksburg on Thursday night will now feature two unranked teams still very much in the hunt for the Coastal Division Title. The Hokies fell from 25th to 30/31 in the two polls. Miami still has their goal of winning the Coastal in front of them.
Atlantic Coast Conference – Coastal
| CONFERENCE | OVERALL | POLLS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CONF | PF | PA | OVER | PF | PA | HOME | ROAD | STRK | AP | USA | |
| 3-1 | 97 | 118 | 5-2 | 225 | 202 | 2-1 | 3-0 | W1 | 2-1 | 2-1 | |
| 2-1 | 118 | 102 | 5-2 | 269 | 220 | 4-0 | 1-2 | W3 | 0-1 | 0-1 | |
| 2-1 | 100 | 34 | 4-2 | 214 | 109 | 3-0 | 1-1 | L1 | 0-1 | 0-1 | |
| 1-1 | 65 | 65 | 2-4 | 170 | 194 | 1-2 | 1-2 | L1 | 0-1 | 0-1 | |
| 1-2 | 67 | 61 | 4-2 | 220 | 84 | 2-2 | 2-0 | L2 | 0-1 | 0-1 | |
| 1-3 | 79 | 112 | 4-3 | 187 | 153 | 3-2 | 0-1 | W1 | 0-2 | 0-2 | |
| 0-3 | 48 | 82 | 3-4 | 161 | 153 | 2-2 | 1-2 | L1 | 0-1 | 0-1 |
The Hurricanes and Hokies are no strangers to playing each other in big games. Miami and Virginia Tech combined to win or tie for 12 Big East conference championships in their 13 years in the conference.
They shared the title twice, were co-champions in 1995 and tri-champions with Syracuse in 1996. The Orange was led by Sophomore Quarterback and likely future Pro Football Hall of Famer Donovan McNabb.
Miami leads the all-time series 20-13. The Hurricanes won their first meeting 26-0 in 1953 and would go on to post 11 more consecutive victories as they won the first 12 games against Virginia Tech head to head.
Included in that streak was a 14-7 victory in the 1966 Liberty Bowl and a 20-10 Victory in 1981 Peach Bowl played on January 2nd at the conclusion of the 1980 season. That season marked the return of Miami Football.
Led by Jim Kelly the 1980 Hurricanes went 9-3 and earned their first bowl bid since the 1967 Bluebonnet Bowl. Mark Richt was the third string Quarterback on that team. The Hurricanes would follow up their 1980 season that put them on the map with a 9-2 1981 season but without a bowl berth.
Two seasons later behind Bernie Kosar, the Hurricanes finished 11-1 and upset number one and previously undefeated Nebraska in the Orange Bowl to win the school’s first national championship.
The Hokies broke through with their first win against the Hurricanes with a 13-7 victory over Miami in 1995. The win made the difference in the conference title. VA Tech and UM would tie for the Big East title with 6-1 records, but VA Tech won the title based on their head to head victory.
That win marked the first of five straight Hokies victories over the Hurricanes. That was also the first of two consecutive and three out of five Big East titles for the Hokies. There were only three seasons in the Hurricanes and Hokies 13 years in the Big East that someone other than UM and VATech won the Big East outright.
The Hokies made an immediate impact in the ACC, winning the conference title in three of their first five years. The Hurricanes finished in the three-way tie for 2012 Coastal Division title with Georgia Tech and North Carolina. They would have played Florida State in the ACC Title game but were on a self-imposed probation.
Next: Miami Hurricanes Unable to Overcome Slow Start, Fall to UNC 20-13
The Hokies dominated the Coastal early from its creation in 2005. They won the division title five of its first seven years.