ESPN College Football analysts Heather Dinich and Paul Feinbaum both mentioned Miami is the most underrated team in the Associated Press Top 25 during an appearance on Get Up with Mike Greenberg. Miami is 19th in the AP Top 25 and the USA Today Coaches Poll entering the 2024 season.
Miami received 492 points in the Associated Press Top 25 that was released on Monday. Florida State is 10th in the AP Top 25 with 971 points. Florida, where Miami opens the season on August 31 did not receive any votes in the preseason Top 25. The praise from Feinbaum was interesting with fans often critisizing him for being biased against Miami.
Feinbaum implied he expects Miami to turn around their four losses in his words "at the buzzer" last season. Miami lost four games by seven points or less in 2023. The most egregious and infamous of those losses were to Georgia Tech. Miami lost by three to Georgia Tech and seven points each to FSU, Louisville and Rutgers.
Hopefully, Cristobal has learned from the late-game faux pas. Cristobal has frequently been criticized for game mismanagement throughout his career. Cristobal was also accused of poor clock management during his four-year tenure at Oregon. Feinbaum analyzed Miami's 2024 prospects.
""I think it's Miami, they lost four games last year at the buzzer. One that the head coach Mario Cristobal simply just gave away. Remember that game against Georgia Tech. They open the season at Florida.""Paul Feinbaum, ESPN
The criticism of Cristobal's clock management will not dissipate until he proves he has learned from his past mistakes. Cristobal has proven his ability as an elite recruiter. Miami has improved its roster since Cristobal was hired in December 2021. ESPN College Football reporter Heather Dinich agreed with Feinbaum that Miami is underrated.
""Paul and I agree. It's definitely Miami. Mario Cristobal has done an excellent job of recruiting. This is arguably the most talented team in the ACC. Paul's right though, no one is going to forget that Georgia Tech game. Take a knee, please. As long as you don't do that and parlay the talent into wins, this is a team capable of beating Florida State and winning the ACC. They only leave the state of Florida four times this season. They could be the unofficial state champs this year."Heather Dinich, ESPN
BREAKING: Georgia is No. 1 in the preseason AP Top 25 and Ohio State is No. 2 as expanded SEC and Big Ten dominate.
— AP Top 25 (@AP_Top25) August 12, 2024
See full poll: https://t.co/7dTTUiSC1j pic.twitter.com/xhzCrzACze
Miami has signed consecutive top 10 classes. The 2023 Miami class ranked seventh and the 2024 class was fourth in the 247Sports composite rankings. Miami also signed the seventh-ranked 2023 transfer class and added the 10th-best group through the portal during the 2024 offseason.
Players from the last two signing classes and transfers will all be major contributors in 2024. Miami plays Florida State at home and also hosts Virginia Tech who was 27th in the Associated Press rankings. Miami plays at Louisville and avoids Clemson and North Carolina during the regular season.
Miami had the second most talented roster in the ACC last season behind Clemson. The 247Sports Team Talent composite rankings had Clemson fifth and Miami 12th. Florida State was 20th. Miami should be higher in the 2024 team talent composite rankings that should be released in the next couple of weeks,.
Miami has non-conference road games at Florida and South Florida. Miami leaves Florida for ACC road games at California on October 5, Louisville on October 19, Georgia Tech on November 5 and finishes the season at Syracuse on November 30. The 2024 season will be a pivotal one for Cristobal and Miami.