Miami football moving to AP Poll top 10 depends how far Indiana falls
With a double-bye, the Miami football team moving up in the AP Top 25 that will be released Sunday afternoon will depend on how far Indiana falls.
The ranking in the AP Top 25 for the Miami football program will depend on how far Indiana falls after a 42-35 Indiana loss at Ohio State on Saturday. Miami fell three spots in the rankings last week after they struggled in a 26-25 victory at Virginia Tech. Indiana, Wisconsin and Oregon all passed Miami in the rankings last week.
Miami remained ninth in the USA Today Coaches Poll following the win over the Hokies. The Badgers lost 17-7 at number 19 Northwestern Saturday and the Ducks survived 38-35 at home against 1-2 UCLA. With COVID-19 creating differences in the number of games played this season the rankings have fluctuated often.
Miami should pass Wisconsin in the rankings. Indiana will be fluid with the confidence of the voters in the Hoosiers playing perennial national title contender Ohio State tough on the road potentially favoring them. The Miami football team could have a good chance to pass Oregon after the Ducks’ lackluster victory.
Indiana showed resiliency against Ohio State after falling behind 35-7. Miami will have the same situation next week when they will have their second straight bye week in an attempt to heal from COVID-19. The eight teams ahead of the Hurricanes in the USA Today Coaches poll all won or were off on Saturday.
Number four Clemson at Florida State and Mississippi and number five Texas A&M were two of at least 17 games canceled this weekend. The Tigers and Seminoles were canceled three hours before kickoff. A Clemson reserved tested positive during the week and Florida State was not comfortable playing the game.
One of the criticisms of Miami will be that the Hurricanes do not have a marquee win this season. Miami won at then number 18 Louisville in September. Since then the Cardinals have fallen to 3-6. Indiana appeared to have impressive wins over Penn State who is 0-5 and Michigan who is 2-3. Wisconsin defeated Illinois and Michigan.
Oregon who is coached by former Miami offensive lineman Mario Cristobal has victories over Stanford, Washington State and UCLA. With games remaining against Oregon State, California and Washington, the Ducks do not have a lot of opportunity for a marquee win. They are still in college football playoff contention.
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The focus for Miami needs to be to win out and continue in contention for a berth in a New Year’s Six Bowl Game. The consensus projections have the Hurricanes playing in either the Peach Bowl or Orange Bowl. It would be only the second major bowl for Miami since playing in the Orange Bowl on January 1, 2004.