Best / Worse Case Record for :
Clemson | Georgia Tech | Virginia| Louisville | Duke | Boston College | Pittsburgh | Florida State |Virginia Tech | NC State | Syracuse | North Carolina | Wake Forest
Miami
The Al Golden era is finally over at Miami. One of the great names in college football, Miami really hasn’t been relevant in over a decade. An afterthought nationally and now even an afterthought in the ACC, Miami hired former Georgia coach Mark Richt to get this program back on track. Georgia is arguably one of the easiest places to win college football with all of their built in resources, great fan support, great recruiting base, and great facilities. Yet Richt could never make Georgia an elite football power. That said Richt made Georgia at times very good especially early in his tenure. Miami needed a change and so did Richt.
I envision Richt doing positive things at Miami and that could start next this year.
Will Go 10-2 (7-1)
If the offensive line improves their blocking that would help the Canes a ton. Brady Kaaya is an NFL caliber QB, and there is pretty good skill position talent. There isn’t any way Miami should have finished 117th in the nation in rushing with a back like Joe Yearby. The Canes get FSU at home, and have proven the last 2 years they can play with the Noles, and if they reach that game 4-0, it wouldn’t be the impossible to think they could score an upset of FSU at home.
There is some talent on defense if not a lot of depth, and if they take to DC Manny Diaz you could see improvement on that side of the ball. Miami gets UNC at home, and avoids Clemson and Louisville this year. Could they really put it all together and contend in the Coastal?
Will Go 5-7 (3-5) if:
If Miami loses at Appalachian State. This isn’t the Miami program of old. They aren’t used to winning, and this is a very very dangerous game. The game is already a sellout, and App State is ready to pull the upset. Miami loses this game and the season could spiral out of control. After the game at Boone, Miami plays at Georgia Tech, FSU, UNC at Virginia Tech and at Notre Dame.
That’s a tough stretch and the Canes could conceivably lose 4 or 5 of those 6 before hosting a solid Pitt team. Kaaya is a very good QB, but if the running game struggles as much as last year, it will be an ugly first season for Mark Richt.
