Miami's rivalries have produced some of the most famous moments in college football history, and plenty of those moments didn't actually match how the season ended up. Here are five times a single rivalry game became the story of the year, whatever the final record said.
5. The Week 1 Decider (Aug. 31, 2025): Miami 27, Notre Dame 24
Miami beat Notre Dame at Hard Rock Stadium in the first week of the 2025 season, and when both teams finished the regular season at 10-2, that single result was the reason the selection committee picked Miami for the final playoff spot over the Fighting Irish.
Miami rode that CFP spot to the national championship game before falling to Indiana. Notre Dame, with an identical record, stayed home. A game played in August ended up being the deciding factor for the CFP committee.
- Miami's playoff run included wins over Texas A&M (10-3), Ohio State (24-14) and Ole Miss (31-27).
- Indiana finished a perfect 16-0 and won the program's first national championship.
4. Wide Left (Oct. 12, 2002): Miami 28, Florida State 27
Miami arrived as the reigning national champion and the No. 1 team in the country, chasing a repeat that only two other programs had managed in the previous 35 years. Florida State's Greg Jones ran for 189 yards and helped build a 27-14 fourth-quarter lead before Ken Dorsey rallied Miami back with two late touchdown drives. Florida State's Xavier Beitia lined up for a 43-yard attempt as time expired, the fourth missed kick to decide this rivalry in 11 years, and it sailed left.
Miami's unbeaten season stayed alive because of it. But that season ended a few months later in the Fiesta Bowl, where Miami lost to Ohio State in double overtime, 31-24, after a pass interference call against cornerback Glenn Sharpe wiped out what looked like a game-clinching stop and a second straight championship.
- Florida State still won the ACC title that season at 9-5 overall, then lost the Sugar Bowl to Georgia.
- Beitia missed another potential go-ahead kick against Miami 13 months later in the 2004 Orange Bowl rematch, and Miami won that game too, 16-14.
- A win over Ohio State would have made Miami just the third program in 35 years to win back-to-back national titles, joining Alabama and Nebraska.
3. The BCS Snub (Oct. 7, 2000): Miami 27, Florida State 24
Florida State had won five straight in this series and came in as the two-time defending national finalist, riding high as the reigning champion from the 1999 season. Ken Dorsey found Jeremy Shockey for the go-ahead score with 46 seconds left, and Matt Munyon's potential game-winning 49-yard field goal for Florida State sailed wide right as time expired. Miami finished the regular season 10-1 and ended up ranked ahead of Florida State in both the final AP and Coaches polls.
But, the BCS computer formula, which rewarded margin of victory over quality of opponent, sent Florida State to the Orange Bowl instead, where the Seminoles lost to Oklahoma. Miami beat Florida in the Sugar Bowl to finish 11-1, and plenty of people still argue the Hurricanes were the best team in the country that season despite never getting the chance to prove it.
- Oklahoma beat Florida State 13-2 in that year's title game, one of only two BCS or CFP championship games in which a team failed to score a touchdown.
- Miami's lone regular-season loss that year came on the road at Washington, a team that finished 11-1.
- The fallout led the BCS to add a "quality win" bonus to its ranking formula the following season.
2. Wide Right II (Oct. 3, 1992): Miami 19, Florida State 16
Florida State came to the Orange Bowl for revenge, and Hurricane Andrew had torn through South Florida weeks earlier, disrupting Miami's preparations. Florida State led in the fourth quarter before Miami rallied, and Dan Mowrey's potential game-tying field goal sailed wide right as time expired. Had it gone through, Miami's national title defense and its unbeaten season would have ended with two months still on the schedule. Instead, the Hurricanes carried a perfect record all the way to the Sugar Bowl as the country's No. 1 team, then lost the actual national championship game to Alabama in a rout that few people bring up nearly as often as the field goal that got them there.
- Miami entered the game on a 20-game winning streak.
- Florida State's Tamarick Vanover returned the opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown.
- Mowrey was 3-for-3 on field goals that day before his final attempt missed.
- Miami extended its streak to 28 games by the time it reached the Sugar Bowl, then lost 34-13 to Alabama, ending any hope of a third title in four years.
- The Sugar Bowl is remembered partly for "The Strip," when Alabama's George Teague chased down Miami receiver Lamar Thomas from behind.
1. Catholics vs. Convicts (Oct. 15, 1988): Notre Dame 31, Miami 30
Miami arrived in South Bend, Indiana, as the defending national champion and hadn't lost a regular-season game in three years. The 36-game streak was built in part on blowouts of this same Notre Dame team. The Irish, revived under third-year coach Lou Holtz, were unbeaten too and wanted revenge for those beatings.
Down 31-30 with less than a minute left, Miami coach Jimmy Johnson passed on the tying extra point and went for two to win it outright. Notre Dame safety Pat Terrell batted the pass away, and the Irish held on. The loss cost Miami a shot at back-to-back titles. The Hurricanes won their final three games and finished 11-1, No. 2 in the country. Notre Dame ran the table behind that win and claimed the national championship, one that still stands as the school's most recent.
- The game was preceded by a brawl between both teams in the stadium tunnel before kickoff.
- Notre Dame students coined and sold the "Catholics vs. Convicts" T-shirts that gave the game its name.
- Miami quarterback Steve Walsh threw for 424 yards and four touchdowns in the loss, the only defeat of his two seasons as Miami's starter.
- Miami had beaten Notre Dame 58-7 in 1985 and 24-0 in 1987.
- The rivalry inspired an ESPN "30 for 30" documentary that used the game's nickname as its title.
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