Adam Gorney of Rivals.com projects the Miami Hurricanes as the ninth seed in the 2025 College Football Playoff published in his Tuesdays with Gorney column this week. Gorney highlighted Miami adding former Georgia quarterback Carson Beck as a transfer and the hiring of Corey Hetherman as defensive coordinator as key for 2025.
Gorney projects Miami to open the 2025 College Football Playoff at No. 8 seed Notre Dame. Miami hosts Notre Dame in the 2025 season opener. Notre Dame was the seventh seed in this season's College Football Playoff and beat No. 10 seed Indiana in South Bend on their way to advancing to the National Championship Game.
Gorney projects the winner of Miami and Notre Dame to play Texas, which he has as the No. 1 seed. That game would likely be at either the Cotton Bowl or Sugar Bowl which are both quarterfinals. The SEC winner traditionally plays in the Sugar Bowl/.
Beck had an inconsistent 2024 season where he played well early, struggled in the middle of the season and finished strong. In the first three 2024 games, Beck completed 68.29 percent of his passes for 680 yards, seven touchdowns and no interceptions as Georgia beat Clemson, Tennessee Tech and Kentucky.
2025 Team Rankings✅ pic.twitter.com/G5bLKCXKkJ
— Rivals (@Rivals) January 22, 2025
"Miami did a great job getting Georgia QB Carson Beck to transfer. While he’s not as athletic or dynamic as (Cam ) Ward, he still is a probable first-round NFL Draft pick (depending on how his elbow heals) and there is going to be an immense amount of talent on the roster.
The defense needs to be fixed – and fast – and new coordinator Corey Hetherman came from Minnesota for just that task."
Beck had a poor first half at Alabama, then helped Georgia rally from a 28-0 deficit before ultimately losing. In a 31-13 win at Auburn, Beck threw for 240 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions before the midseason struggles commenced a week later versus Mississippi State.
Beck completed 65 percent of his pass attempts, averaging 282.25 yards per game, five TDs and nine interceptions over the next five games. In his final four games in 2024 before suffering a UCL injury, Beck completed 62.99 percent of his pass attempts for 997 yards, 11 TDs and no interceptions.
Hetherman led a Minnesota defense that was Top 12 nationally in points allowed, total yards, rushing yards and passing yards in 2024. The addition of Hetherman and five four-star transfer defensive backs is projected to help Miami improve significantly defensively in 2025.
Miami will continue to add transfers through the 10-day spring portal in April. Under Mario Cristobal, talent acquisition has been a constant. Miami had the 14th-best roster in the 247Sports 2024 Team Talent Composite Rankings. The Hurricanes should continue to be in the Top 15 in 2025.