Miami basketball moves up in both national polls

The Miami basketball team moved up one spot to 12th in the AP Top 25 and two to 11th in the USA Today Coaches Poll following its season-opening wins over NJIT and UCF last week. Miami hosts FIU on Monday, plays Georgia on Friday and Kansas State or Providence on Sunday in the Baha Mar Bahamas Hoops Championship.

The Miami basketball team received 778 points in the AP Top 25. Miami received 750 points in the preseason AP Top 25. Miami is the second-highest-ranked ACC team in the week two AP Top 25. Duke dropped seven spots to ninth with 1,088 points after their 78-73 loss to Arizona on Friday night.

Miami received 366 points in the USA Today Coaches week two poll. The Hurricanes received 390 points in the USA Today Coaches preseason poll. Duke fell six spots in the USA Today Coaches poll to ninth remaining as the highest-ranked team in the ACC. Four Miami opponents are ranked by the AP and four are in the Coaches Poll.

Miami plays at number 17/16 Kentucky on November 28, versus 25/26 Colorado on December 10 in Brooklyn, versus Duke on February 21, versus number 20/18 North Carolina on February 10 and at the Tar Heels on February 26 and at Virginia on February 10. The Cavaliers are 25th in the USA Today Coaches Poll.

Duke is the only ranked team on the 2023-24 Miami basketball schedule that has a loss. Miami is 38th in the ESPN Basketball Power Index. That is partially reflective of the relatively weak schedule Miami has played in its first two games. Central Florida is 38th in the BPI. The BPI has Miami with the 29th-best resume.

Miami will move up in the metrics as the schedule gets tougher throughout the season. The initial 2023-24 NCAA Net Ratings will released in December. Andy Katz of NCAA.Com ranks Miami eighth in his Power 36 and said “The ‘Canes don’t look like they have missed a step from the Final Four.”