Miami plunges in rankings after loss to Alabama, but still in top 25 of both polls
As bad as it was Saturday for the University of Miami against No. 1 Alabama in its 44-13 season-opening loss, the voters in the AP Top 25 Poll and USA TODAY AFCA Coaches Poll still kept the Hurricanes in the rankings.
Defending national champion Alabama, as usual, is that good.
The Associated Press on Tuesday released its first regular-season top 25 and preseason No. 14 Miami dropped eight spots to No. 22.
The coaches dropped Miami from No. 16 to No. 24.
The Florida Gators (1-0) stayed at No. 13 in the AP, and went from No. 11 to No. 9 in the Coaches Poll after defeating FAU 35-14 in the opener.
The Florida State Seminoles (0-1) are still unranked after their 41-38 overtime loss to the then-No. 9 Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Sunday. Notre Dame rose to No. 8.
The top 10, according to the AP: Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Clemson, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, Iowa State, Iowa.
The Canes, 8-3 last season, finished 2020 ranked No. 22 in both the AP and Coaches polls. They’re one of four ACC teams ranked in the AP Poll this week. The Virginia Tech Hokies jumped from outside the rankings all the way up to No. 19 after their 17-10 win against the North Carolina Tar Heels on Friday. The loss dropped North Carolina from No. 10 to No. 24.
Miami meets unranked Appalachian State (1-0) at 7 p.m. Saturday in the home opener at Hard Rock Stadium. The Hurricanes have only played the Mountaineers once, in 2016, when Miami won 45-10 in Boone, North Carolina.
Appalachian State, which plays in the Sun Belt Conference and finished 9-3 in 2020, defeated East Carolina 33-19 in its Saturday opener.
As of Tuesday, the Hurricanes were an eight-point favorite over the Mountaineers.
This story was originally published September 7, 2021 at 2:21 PM.
