When it comes down to comparing teams in college football a lot of it is subjective. But, sometimes fans and media alike find themselves splitting hairs or overlooking key details of what a team has shown on the field. From the Miami Hurricanes perspective, they have gotten a lot of national buzz after their 5-0 start. So, let's check the resume of every opponent Miami has faced so far this season — what they've done outside of their game against the Hurricanes, and what's ahead — and get a deeper look at how they will be compared when the regular season/conference championship weekend comes to a close.
No. 16 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame opened with a narrow loss at Miami (27–24), then fell in a shootout to Texas A&M (41–40). But, despite the 0-2 start, the Irish never fell out of the rankings. That's a sign of respect for Miami as well as Texas A&M. Since the first two games, the Irish have steadied, ripping Purdue (56–30), blasting Arkansas in Fayetteville (56–13) and handling Boise State (28–7). That's good for a 3–2 mark and the season-opening win will most likely only continue to age well for Miami. Notre Dame's remaining slate isn't very challenging as they have NC State and USC at home, then road trips to Boston College, Pitt and Stanford with Navy and Syracuse in South Bend. As long as the Irish don't lose again, they will be in the top-25 for the rest of the year and also provide a nice safety net for Miami if they drop a game at some point in the season.
Also something to note, Miami fans should also be rooting for Texas A&M to continue winning as it helps the Notre Dame schedule look a little bit tougher.
Bethune-Cookman Wildcats
Bethune-Cookman is unlikely to move the needle but sometimes a win over a dominant FCS program is sneaky good for the resume. Although that is not the case for Bethune-Cookman... but we'll still be thorough here.
The Wildcats lost at FIU to open (42–9), fell at Miami (45–3) and at South Carolina State (55–41) before punching back with home wins over Edward Waters (35–9) and Alabama A&M (41–34). They then dropped a SWAC road game at Alabama State (52–35). Coming up are home dates with Southern, UAPB and Mississippi Valley State, plus a road trip to Jackson State and Grambling. They also have a neutral site matchup vs. Florida A&M to end the season.
No. 24 USF Bulls
South Florida has been one of the nicer wins for Miami on the year. The Bulls beat two ranked teams to open — Boise State (34–7) and Florida (18–16) — before losing only to Miami (49–12). The dominant performance for the Hurricanes put real distance between them and what could be the Group of Six representative. USF bounced back with blowouts of South Carolina State (63–14) and Charlotte (54–26) to sit 4–1 and re-enter the AP Poll this week at No. 24. USF's next stretch is not easy as it features a road game against North Texas (received 16 votes) and No. 23 Memphis. If Byrum Brown and the top-25 Bulls can win those two games and take care of their other AAC games, Miami's 37-point margin of victory will continue to look elite. Also, if they run the table, that win will be talked about a lot more later on in the year and could help with seeding.
Florida Gators
Florida's resume just took a big leap with a top-10 win over Texas (29–21). Before that, the Gators had lost three straight to USF (18–16), LSU (20–10) and Miami (26–7). There wasn't much to expect from the Gators regarding Miami's resume. But now, maybe the classic Billy Napier turnaround is underway. At 2–3, Florida now heads into a rugged run: at Texas A&M, Mississippi State, the neutral-site Georgia game, at Kentucky, at Ole Miss, and then home vs. Tennessee and Florida State. As of right now, it still seems unlikely that Florida will truly be able to change course. But, if they can continue to show some fight — because that defense is still elite and they have plenty of talent on the roster — then hovering around 7 wins and knocking off a couple teams is realistic and could help Miami in a lot of different scenarios.
No. 25 Florida State Seminoles
Florida State looked like a playoff threat out of the gate with wins over Alabama (31–17), East Texas A&M (77–3) and Kent State (66–10). The win over Bama vaulted FSU into the rankings after being unranked to begin the season. The matchup then quickly turned into something far more important for Miami than previously thought. Unfortunately, after rising as high as No. 7, they stumbled in double overtime against Virginia (46–38), just one week before playing Miami. The matchup lost some luster — and ESPN's College GameDay — but Miami dominated on the road which was almost best-case scenario for the Canes given the changing circumstances. Miami allowed some late points and the final score (28–22) isn't exactly indicative of what actually occurred, but it was still a very good outcome.
In the fallout after the game, FSU stayed in the rankings at No. 25 and the voters decided to reward Miami and move them back up to No. 2. With No. 19 Virginia also being ranked, the Seminoles have two losses to ranked teams and the win over Alabama sets them apart from teams like Texas and Penn State in the resume department. What's also good for Miami is that FSU has a very winnable schedule the rest of the way with Pitt up next and then Stanford, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Clemson, NC State, and a finish at Florida. FSU definitely has the chance to finish with 9-10 wins and that is great for Miami.
Remaining schedule for Miami
Up next for Miami is Louisville, Stanford, at SMU, Syracuse, NC State, at Virginia Tech and at Pitt.