The Miami Hurricanes have a better chance than you might think to play for college football's national championship Jan. 7 in the Rose Bowl. The Miami Dolphins have a great, immediate opportunity to prove they might have a chance to reach the Super Bowl on Feb. 7 in their own stadium.

We are double dreaming here, admittedly. The odds of either happening are long enough, and the odds of both happening are off the charts.

But part of the fun of sports is that hope and optimism live around every corner -- except, evidently, around Wrigley Field on Chicago's north side. Getting carried away is not only allowed but encouraged. Belief is the blood and bones of sports; it's why we show up, why we invest time, money and emotion.

So take a leap of faith, by which I mean leaping across the doubt to where the possibility is. Let's make the case for UM and, yes, even the Dolphins, having a chance to make magic of their seasons.

(Note to Randy Shannon and Tony Sparano: Do not read beyond this point, because there are long-range scenarios that run counter to everything you believe in about taking it one game at a time.)

CANES' EASIER ROAD

Go chronologically and start with the Canes, who have less a mountain to climb than their pro brethren, with a 5-1 record and slotted 10th in the first Bowl Championship Series rankings.

Bodog.com puts UM's BCS title shot at 14-1. USA Today sports analyst Danny Sheridan calls it 18-1, but rates only six teams higher. And read what Sheridan told us Tuesday:

``If Miami runs the table, they should be in the national championship game.''

Read that again, please.

Now, consider that the Hurricanes, so front-loaded on this year's schedule, could be favored in all six remaining regular-season games, with only three -- Saturday against Clemson, Nov. 14 at North Carolina and Nov. 28 at South Florida -- that seen somewhat dangerous. (Beyond that, if the Canes reached the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game, they likely would face a nonpowerhouse in a down year for the conference's Atlantic division.)

Of the top 10 BCS teams, only Boise State is positioned more likely than UM to win out, but that school's ridiculously soft schedule -- lending an apt double entendre to its initials -- will be a detriment in future BCS rankings and give Miami a big chance to surpass it.

The other teams Miami must leapfrog have a reasonable chance to lose at least once from here, especially when conference title games are factored. Top-ranked Florida and Alabama should win out, but then would face each other in the Southeastern Conference championship game, effectively eliminating the loser from a shot at the ultimate Jan. 7 game.

BCS SHAKE-UP TO COME

``There's going to be a lot of shaking up,'' Sheridan said of the BCS top 10. ``I don't see anybody [above Miami] but Alabama and Florida running the table, but one of them will knock the other off.''

Winning out from here is a tall but plausible ``if'' for UM, and if it happens, a date with Jan. 7 will seem more and more real.

OK, now on to the NFL and the harder half of our quiniela.

The Dolphins, at 2-3, despite all that has turned right lately, remain a disrespected long shot in most all analyst's eyes. Bodog.com puts the adjusted over/under on victories at only 7.5 and calls Miami a 50-1 shot against winning the Super Bowl. Sheridan puts the over/under at eight to 8.5 victories, but calls the Super Bowl odds 100-1.

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