Through Aug. 22, Sports Illustrated will count down its preseason college football Top 25 with overviews of each team. Here are the full rankings so far.
If you had to come up with a list of teams based purely on entertainment last season, it would be tough not to put Miami near, or even at, the very top.
The Hurricanes had the No. 1 overall draft pick in the mesmerizing Cam Ward. They had some truly thrilling back-and-forth affairs that often came down to a play or two in the fourth quarter. They lived and breathed one-score games while taking you on a ride from the opening kickoff to the final whistle.
Some of this was because of Ward’s heroics, some the result of boneheaded plays that opponents capitalized on, but, as any Miami fan would point out, it was mostly because they were so atrocious on defense that they had to be all that.
“Certainly, after Week 4 last year, we took a downturn. We slipped defensively. I don’t want to blame anybody. I always look at myself and say, what could I have done better? We had some injuries that led to some schematic changes that weren’t the best for our football program, so a change had to be made,” coach Mario Cristobal said. “We found a guy in [new defensive coordinator] Corey Hetherman. It’s not the fact that he was a highly coveted guy, it’s the fact that he is an elite teacher and human being and a guy that really does really well with what we need our defense to do and to be.”
The impetus is on Cristobal and Hetherman, who arrived after doing great work at Minnesota, to at least be passable, given how bad the Canes were a year ago. Had they simply been average in 2024, you could make an argument that they would have won the national title like they were on track to do before losing three of their last four.
Against that backdrop in 2025, Miami once again brings in a stellar crop of high-priced talent from the transfer portal, making the two-deep look strong on both sides of the ball. Cristobal seems to be a little more settled at his alma mater and more confident in where the program is going than when he first took over.
That’s a good base to work off, but the Hurricanes have to put it all together or risk embarking on a slew of What ifs? surrounding another campaign. The schedule is front-loaded, so we’ll know by mid-October just how well Cristobal & Co. went about correcting past mistakes for a team that could be a little less entertaining but still get back into playoff contention by being a lot more consistent.
Fast Facts
2024 record: 10–3, 6–2 ACC
Offense: 43.9 ppg (first in FBS), 7.57 yards per play (first)
Defense: 25.3 ppg (68th in FBS), 5.27 yards per play (44th)
On the Headset
Mario Cristobal, entering Year 4 in Coral Gables (15th as a head coach), 84–76 overall record, 22–16 with the Hurricanes
Last year marked the leap in competitiveness that Cristobal expected at his alma mater, following three seasons of constant improvement that were also somewhat underwhelming (notably, back-to-back 3–5 marks in a down ACC early on, for example).
“We’ve made a lot of progress over the last three years. Year 1, our roster was not really built to take on Power 4 football, and those were some lopsided games and those were tough,” Cristobal said. “Year 2, everything was competitive and we won a couple more. Then last year we had a chance to win every single game, but we didn’t. The bottom line is we didn’t get it done.”
Cristobal is certainly entering no-excuse territory now. Few programs have been able to spend more either in the portal or in the high school ranks. Recruiting has been excellent in general. The facilities have been upgraded. The juice around town has returned, too, with interest really building in 2024 until that late slide.
As a private school, the terms of the head coach’s contract aren’t public, but it’s clear Miami has been committed to Cristobal and he’s helped advance things and raise the ceiling. That puts it all back on the native son to deliver national titles again. This feels like one of those seasons where we find out if the Canes are close to being a regular CFP threat or if there’s still something holding them back.
Key Returning Starter
DL Rueben Bain Jr., Jr.
Bain suffered an injury on the first drive of the season and was never quite the same, missing four games early before returning to notch 3.5 sacks across the final nine games. When he was fully healthy though, as he was as a sophomore, the pass rusher can be an absolute difference-maker and the type of player who many pegged as a first-rounder after becoming the ACC’s Rookie of the Year in 2023. If Bain can stay healthy and get back to consistent productivity, he can help lead the charge with the Canes’ turnaround on defense.
Key Transfer
QB Carson Beck, from Georgia
When Beck first committed to Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs coming out of high school, the plan was always for 2025 to be the season where he would be acclimating to life as a rookie in the NFL—ideally as the first-round signal-caller who scouts had pegged him to be after the ’23 season.
Things don’t always go as planned in college football, however, so after a step back last season on the field with his play—plus a UCL repair ahead after injuring his arm during the SEC championship—Beck opted to delay his NFL entry another year and start anew in South Florida.
“I think a big part of obviously why I came to Miami was the offensive fit, the schematic fit with Coach Cristobal’s vision and the culture that he’s built here,” said Beck, a Jacksonville native. “Coach [Shannon] Dawson as the offensive coordinator that fit with him, too. The relationship has to be built there between the offensive coordinator and a quarterback but obviously seeing success from guys like [Cam Ward] is a huge thing.”
Beck doesn’t have to put up the video-game numbers that Ward did a year ago, but it would benefit both his personal stock (and the Hurricanes’ ACC and CFP chances) if he could perform like the guy who nearly led Georgia to a third straight title. He professes to be fully healthy after sitting out spring ball and said he feels excited about what he can do in an offense that is set to air it out much more than the old one he piloted back in the SEC. But there’s also a big question mark surrounding what exactly Miami is going to get behind center.
Key Departure
QB Cam Ward, first overall NFL draft pick to the Tennessee Titans
Ward finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting last season and probably had an argument to be much higher after throwing for 4,313 yards and 39 touchdowns. He got the team in trouble a few times by taking too many risks (seven interceptions) but was also the only reason why the Hurricanes got anywhere close to double-digit wins and eventually became the unquestioned top pick in the draft. At a place that has produced a share of great quarterbacks, Ward will be top of mind as the best at the program in the last two decades by a decent margin.
Circle the Dates
- Aug. 31, vs. Notre Dame
- Sept. 20, vs. Florida
- Oct. 17, vs. Louisville
- Nov. 1, at SMU
Bottom Line
Most years, going 10–2 in the regular season will probably be enough to make the playoffs, and Miami has to kick itself (again) for not having a defense that could match its incredible offense. There may be some natural regression on the latter side of the ball, but if the reset that happens under a new defensive coordinator leads to enough gains, the Hurricanes could be right back in the thick of things come November.
More College Football on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Sports Illustrated’s College Football Preseason Top 25: No. 15 Miami.