The guys on ESPN's Pardon the Interruption don't talk about college football much, but it's the CFP Championship tonight and that means it gets two minutes on the popular show hosted by Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon.
And while Wilbon is normally a guy that roots for the Big Ten (he graduated from Northwestern University), he is breaking rank with his conference and seems to be pulling for Miami to get back into prominence.
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"I'm a Big Ten guy and I don't know if [indiana] is the best story. Miami would be returning and waking up the echoes," Wilbon said. "We covered games when Miami was thought to be some up and comer. People didn't want them. Division 1-A people did not want the U. They didn't. The U came up, and they beat Oklahoma, and they beat Notre Dame. They won those games."
Wilbon is rooting for 'The U' to return to the top
Now I can argue with Wilbon about waking up the echoes — that sort of thing only happens at Notre Dame. But there is something quite intriguing about Miami being that menace that they were in the 1980s and 1990s when the Hurricanes broke all the rules and seemingly laughed in everyone's face about it.
And the former Washington Post columnist isn't wrong. When Miami was on the come up, nobody wanted the Hurricanes there. When Miami beat Notre Dame 58-7 in 1985, Jimmy Johnson was openly criticized for being mean to mighty Notre Dame. The top teams of the time openly rooted for Nebraska, Oklahoma and Notre Dame to shut down and shut up the Hurricanes. And Wilbon was there for a lot of these big events, so he speaks from experience.
"I should be rooting for the conference team, but there's something about this," Wilbon added. "There's something that reminds me of those games in the early 80s. They beat Nebraska when Nebraska was being called the greatest team ever with Irving Fryar and those guys. And then 'The U' beat them."
The script has flipped a bit. It feels like the same blue bloods that once hated Miami are now hoping the Hurricanes can hold the fort to stop another upstart program with a charismatic coach from shaking up the foundation. It's funny how things have changed.