’Canes ranked No. 14 in AP Top 25 preseason poll

The Miami Hurricanes were ranked No. 14 in the Associated Press Top 25 preseason poll, which was released Monday.

It is the first time the UM football team was ranked in the preseason poll with coach Manny Diaz at the helm.

The Hurricanes finished the 2020 season ranked No. 22 in the AP Poll after back-to-back losses to North Carolina and Oklahoma State to finish the year 8-3 — after ranking as high as No. 7 following a 3-0 start before falling to Clemson.

They were also ranked at No. 16 in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA football coaches poll, which was released last Tuesday.

The last time the Hurricanes were ranked in the AP preseason poll came in 2018, when they started at No. 8 following a 10-3 2017 season before they dropped their 2018 season opener to LSU before finishing the year 7-6.

They weren’t ranked at any point during the 2019 season and jumped back into the rankings, at No. 17, after a 31-14 win over UAB to open their 2020 season.

Miami’s ranking in the AP poll is the third-best among Atlantic Coast Conference programs, behind Clemson (No. 3 — 10-2, 8-1 in 2020) and North Carolina (No. 10 — 8-4, 7-3 ACC in 2020).

The Hurricanes are also one of two programs in the state to rank within the top 25, only one spot behind No. 13 Florida.

Miami will open the season against No. 1 Alabama on Sept. 4 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The last time the Hurricanes beat the No. 1-ranked program in the nation came on Oct. 7, 2000, when UM downed rival Florida State, 27-24.

The Crimson Tide and Tar Heels (Oct. 16 in Raleigh, N.C.) are the only teams ranked on the preseason poll that Miami is scheduled to play this year.