The Miami football team has been ranked third in the country by the Orlando Sentinel. It’s a bold move by a paper that has a far greater audience of fans that follow Florida and Florida State.
The ranking of third in the country to start the college football season is the highest for the Miami football team heading into 2018. The Hurricanes are eighth in the two major polls, the USA Today Coaches Poll and the AP Media Poll. In most of the previous other major preseason rankings, Miami has been between sixth and 13th.
The rankings for the Orlando Sentinel were conducted by their college insider Matt Murschel. The summary was written up by Safid Deen. The Sentinel has been summarizing a team per day counting backward beginning at 129 down to one.
One of the first things mentioned by Deen in his summary of the Miami football team was the Hurricanes need to build on the success of 2017 to get back into the spotlight. “Richt and the Hurricanes hope they can sustain their success and truly thrust the program back into the national spotlight.”
Deen then went on to recap the lightning 10-0 start that Miami had to 2017. He mentioned the streak-breaking win over Florida State and in his words the “raucous blowout of No. 3 Notre Dame in Hard Rock Stadium.”
Deen acknowledged what many rivals and particularly Florida State bloggers ignore is that the Hurricanes injuries at the end of last year played a significant role in their three-game losing streak to end the 2017 season.
"“Injuries to key players like receiver Ahmmon Richards hampered UM down the stretch. The Hurricanes lost their final three games of the season, including the ACC title game to Clemson and the Orange Bowl to Wisconsin.”"
The summary of the Hurricanes next lists the offensive and defensive starters returning and highlights the key players returning and lost. Deen follows that up by going into depth about the Miami strengths, weaknesses and the outlook for 2018.