The 2000 Miami Hurricanes were coming off a 9-4 season. They had lost to Florida State the previous five years. Miami entered 2017 after a 9-4 season and a seven-game losing streak to Florida State. The losing streaks to the Seminoles came to an end in both seasons.
The 2000 and 2017 Miami Hurricanes entered their respective seasons with a lot of optimism. After struggling to a 5-6 record in Butch Davis’ third season because of sanctions, the Hurricanes went 17-7 in the two seasons prior to 2000.
There was a lot of reason for optimism with stars like Reggie Wayne and Santana Moss on offense and Dan Morgan and Ed Reed on defense. Moss was named a first-team preseason All-American. Reed and Morgan were named to the second-team.
Florida State offensive lineman Tarios Thomas was named to the first-team. Seminoles defensive lineman Jamal Reynolds was named to the second-team.
The Miami Hurricanes had been blown out by an average margin of 35.8 to 13.2 in the previous five meetings with Florida State. They did play the 1999 National Champion Seminoles tough losing 31-21 in Tallahassee. There was some reason for optimism. Miami entered the 2000 season as the nation’s fifth-ranked team.
Florida State was second in the preseason polls. By the time the teams played in October at the Orange Bowl, Florida State had won 17 in a row and 27 of their last 28 games.
The Seminoles traveled to Miami as the nation’s top-ranked team. The Miami Hurricanes were seventh in the country when the teams met after a costly loss to Washington earlier in the season.