Brad Crawford of CBS Sports ranks Miami first in his 2026 Post-Spring College Football Top 25. Miami is somewhere in the back half of the top 10 in consensus top 25s for the 2026 season. Crawford's CBS Sports colleague Brandon Marcello ranks Miami seventh in his post-spring top 25.
Crawford expects Miami to finish with 12 wins and one loss at worst and to be the ACC regular-season champions. Miami has lost two ACC games in each of the past two seasons. Two losses in the ACC in 2026 would almost definitely mean Miami would have to win at Notre Dame in November to earn a College Football Playoff berth.
Miami begins the season at Stanford on Friday, September 4. The other road games for Miami in 2026 are at Wake Forest, Clemson and North Carolina. Miami has home games against Florida A&M, Central Michigan, Florida State, Pittsburgh, Duke, Virginia Tech and Boston College.
At Notre Dame on November 7 is the last 2026 road game for Miami. The Hurricanes have three home games and a bye in the final four weeks of the 2026 regular season. Miami will be heavily favored at Stanford and Wake Forest before its more challenging road games in October and November.
1) Miami
— Brad Crawford (@BCrawford247) May 3, 2026
2) Texas
3) Oregon
4) Ohio State
5) Notre Dame
6) Indiana
7) Georgia
8) LSU
9) Ole Miss
10) Texas Tech
11) Alabama
12) USC
13) Texas A&M
14) Michigan
15) BYU
16) Oklahoma
17) SMU
18) Washington
19) Louisville
20) Utah
21) Houston
22) Florida
23) Iowa
24) Virginia… pic.twitter.com/B9VDN215WK
"I think the Canes, at worst, go 12-1 regular season as ACC champions.Brad Crawford, CBS Sports
I have them as my preseason projected 1-seed. Love the (Quarterback Darian) Mensah signing, 3 capable backs, (Malachi) Toney/(Cooper) Barkate, OL (and even DL with Damon Wilson 10+ sacks) should be fine."
Miami 2026 roster foundation
Mensah provides Miami stability at quarterback through the Transfer Portal for the third consecutive season. Barkate and Toney provide Miami with one of the best wide receiver tandems nationally. Mark Fletcher Jr., CharMar Brown, Jordan Lyle and Girard Pringle Jr. provide Miami with four proven running backs.
Miami has to rebuild its offensive line. Former five-star signee Samson Okunlola should be ready to assume a much bigger role as a redshirt junior. Five-star 2026 signee Jackson Cantwell will start as a true freshman. Matthew McCoy is the lone Miami returning starter on the offensive line and Ryan Rodriquez will start at center.
Wilson, transferring to Miami from Missouri, is a critical addition for the Hurricanes after losing 2026 NFL Draft first-round edge rushers Rueben Bain and Akheem Mesidor. Marquise Lightfoot projects as the other starting edge rusher. The Miami roster should be one of the best nationally in 2026.
Notre Dame and maybe Clemson are the only opponents who project to be favored over Miami. The Clemson game will depend on how both teams are playing by the time the game is played on October 3. If Miami wins the games it should, another CFP berth is a reasonable expectation.
Add us as a preferred source on Google