Miami Hurricanes plummet in polls after being trampled by rising North Carolina
You knew this would be bad.
One week after the Hurricanes were ecstatic with a 48-0 win over Duke, their 62-26 loss Saturday to North Carolina in the regular-season finale brought them right back down to earth — maybe lower.
The University of Miami (8-2, 7-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) plunged 10 spots from No. 9 to No. 19 Sunday in the AP Top 25 poll after being embarrassed at Hard Rock Stadium by the Tar Heels (8-3, 7-3).
Miami, which was previously No. 8 in the Amway Coaches Poll, dropped 11 spots to No. 19 on Sunday.
North Carolina rose four spots from No. 20 to No. 16 in the AP and five spots from No. 20 to No. 15 among the coaches.
The traditional AP and Coaches polls are not the same as the College Football Playoff rankings, which have Miami at No. 10 before they are expected to plunge in those standings on Tuesday night. The CFP top-25 rankings, which will release its final rankings on Sunday, Dec. 20, are the ones ultimately used to determine the four teams in this season’s semifinal playoffs. The CFP rankings are used to determine the teams that will fill out the six major bowls that include the Capital One Orange Bowl, the bowl in which UNC might play should Clemson beat Notre Dame in the ACC title game on Saturday.
For now, Miami will sit and wait until next Sunday, when it learns its bowl destination. But it obviously won’t be the one for which they had hoped until Saturday’s outcome.
This story was originally published December 13, 2020 at 2:07 PM.
