Miami Football: Canes are surprising under-the-radar 2018 title contender

Miami football carries one of the biggest brands and greatest legacies in college athletics. Why aren’t the Hurricanes being considered true title contenders?

People forget. It’s what we do. Most everyone remembers the Alabama Crimson Tide won the National Championship last season, but few remember the rest of the teams who were in contention down to the final weeks.

One of those squads was the Miami Hurricanes. After thoroughly dismantling No. 3 Notre Dame at Hard Rock Stadium on Nov. 11 the Hurricanes were catapulted to the No. 2 spot in the College Football Playoff Rankings. A bizarre hiccup against Pitt in the final week of the regular season hurt the Canes morale, but they still entered the ACC Championship Game against No. 4 Clemson with one loss on their record.

It might not have been as simple as win-and-you’re-in for the Canes last season, but a perfect 10-0 record doesn’t happen by accident. For the majority of the 2017 season, Miami looked like the real deal. They had enough of a spark on offense, which when combined with the turnover chain defense made the Canes bona-fide title contenders.

A blowout at the hands of Clemson and a subsequent loss to Wisconsin in the Orange Bowl saw a promising season lose some of its luster. Still, Miami was just as much a contender for the College Football Playoff as Auburn, Wisconsin and Washington. And that shouldn’t change much in 2018.

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Miami returns seven starters on offense and eight starters on defense. Losing key pieces on offense like Braxton Berrios, Mark Walton and Chris Herndon is going to take some getting used to. But Miami has a host of blue-chip recruits waiting in the wings. They’re not going to miss a beat. And just like last year, the Hurricanes will “suddenly” be in the national title consideration come November. Surprise, Miami is good at football, again.