Miami football teams split quarterfinals in Yahoo Sports all-time bracket
The United States has become bracket crazy with the loss of the NCAA Tournament. As March has turned to April and the eve of the lost Final Four is approaching, two legendary Miami football teams were placed on the all-time College football brackets.
Yahoo Sports has a bracket for the 16 best teams since 1970. The 2001 and 1987 National champion Miami football teams were placed in that bracket. The 2001 Miami National Championship team which is the consensus best team of all-time was placed as the number two overall seed behind the 1995 Nebraska team.
Having the 1995 Nebraska National Championship team ahead of 2001 Miami was a questionable move by Yahoo. In somewhat of a quirk, the 1987 Miami National Championship team advanced out of the first round to face 1995 Nebraska. Yahoo Sports is conducting its bracket via public vote on its website.
The winner advances to the next round. The 1987 National Champion Hurricanes led by wide receiver Michael Irvin prevented a virtual scrimmage between the 1971 and 1985 Nebraska National Champions.
Miami ousted ’71 Nebraska 62-38 percent. The ’87 Hurricanes run was ended in the quarterfinals 60 to 40 percent to the top-seeded 1995 Nebraska team. The ’95 Cornhuskers and 2001 Miami Hurricanes are on a collision course to determine the best team ever.
Yahoo summarized the quarterfinal matchups for the 1987 and 2001 Miami football National Champions.
"1995 Nebraska vs. 1987 MiamiNo. 1: 1995 NebraskaNebraska, our No. 1 overall seed, cruised past 1991 Washington, the No. 16 seed, by garnering 83 percent of the first-round votes.It was a dominant effort that reflected the performance of Tom Osborne’s second of three national championship teams. En route to a perfect 12-0 record, the Huskers averaged 49 points per game offensively and won their games by an average margin of more than 30 points.The season culminated with a 62-24 rout over No. 2 Florida in the Fiesta Bowl.No. 8: 1987 MiamiThe 1987 Miami Hurricanes comfortably moved past 1971 Nebraska, the No. 9 seed, with 61 percent of the votes, preventing a possible Nebraska vs. Nebraska matchup.The ‘87 Hurricanes also went 12-0, beating five top-10 teams in the process. The season was capped off by a 20-14 victory over top-ranked Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl to win the national championship."
When it comes to the postseason in football, Nebraska is the biggest rival for the Miami football program. The Hurricanes and Cornhuskers have played each other in six bowl games. Four of those decided national championships. Miami won National Titles after Orange Bowl wins over Nebraska in 1984 and 1992.
| Overall | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | Date | Day | School | Opponent | Conf | Pts | Opp | Diff | W | L | T | Streak | Notes ▲ | ||
| 3 | 1962-12-15 | Sat | Miami (FL) | N | Nebraska | Big 8 | L | 34 | 36 | -2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | L 2 | Gotham Bowl (Bronx, NY) |
| 6 | 1984-01-02 | Mon | Miami (FL) (5) | Nebraska (1) | Big 8 | W | 31 | 30 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | W 1 | Orange Bowl (Miami, FL) | |
| 7 | 1989-01-02 | Mon | Miami (FL) (2) | Nebraska (6) | Big 8 | W | 23 | 3 | 20 | 3 | 4 | 0 | W 2 | Orange Bowl (Miami, FL) | |
| 8 | 1992-01-01 | Wed | Miami (FL) (1) | Nebraska (11) | Big 8 | W | 22 | 0 | 22 | 4 | 4 | 0 | W 3 | Orange Bowl (Miami, FL) | |
| 9 | 1995-01-01 | Sun | Miami (FL) (3) | Nebraska (1) | Big 8 | L | 17 | 24 | -7 | 4 | 5 | 0 | L 1 | Orange Bowl (Miami, FL) | |
| 10 | 2002-01-03 | Thu | Miami (FL) (1) | N | Nebraska (4) | Big 12 | W | 37 | 14 | 23 | 5 | 5 | 0 | W 1 | Rose Bowl (Pasadena, CA) |
Provided by CFB at Sports Reference: View Original Table
Generated 4/2/2020.
The Hurricanes added a National Championship over the Cornhuskers in the 2002 Rose Bowl. Tom Osborne won the first of three National Championships in four seasons over Miami in the 1995 Orange Bowl. The 2001 Miami football team advanced to the semifinals with a resounding 68 percent of the vote over 2005 Texas.
"2001 Miami vs. 2005 TexasNo. 2: 2001 MiamiOur No. 2 seed, 2001 Miami, received 80 percent of the votes in its first-round matchup against the No. 15 seed, 1992 Alabama.The 2001 Hurricanes were perhaps the greatest collection of talent in college football history. The team had 17 future first-round picks (38 NFL draftees total), averaged 42.6 points per game and allowed just 9.8. Miami finished a 12-0 season with a 37-14 beatdown of Nebraska in the BCS title game.No. 10: 2005 TexasThe 2005 Texas Longhorns, a No. 10 seed, pulled off the only first-round upset in our bracket, knocking off 1988 Notre Dame, the No. 7 seed, with 68 percent of the votes.This Texas team produced one of the most iconic victories in college football history when it took down a juggernaut USC team in the BCS championship game to finish 13-0. UT quarterback Vince Young famously ran in the game-winning score on fourth down with 19 seconds remaining to clinch the program’s fourth national title"
The debate is likely to come down between 1995 Nebraska and 2001 Miami for the best team ever. In 2001, the Miami football team averaged 42.7 points per game to rank third out of 117 teams in FBS. The Miami defense allowed an FBS best 9.8 PPG which is an exceptional margin in the modern era of college football.
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Nebraska led the country in 1995 scoring 53.2 PPG. The blackshirt defense finished fourth giving up 14.5 PPG. While the Nebraska offense was not one dimensional, they gained 71.8 of their yards on offense averaging 399.8 rushing yards per game. The fast 2001 Miami defense would be perfect against the option I.