Hurricanes No. 10 in preseason AP poll, setting stage for marquee opener vs Notre Dame
For the first time in seven years, the Miami Hurricanes will begin the college football season as a top-10 team.
And as such, for the first time in more than two decades, UM will open the season with a top-10 matchup.
The Hurricanes checked in at No. 10 in the Associated Press’ Preseason Top 25 poll, which was unveiled on Monday. It’s the team’s highest ranking in the poll to begin a season since 2018, when they opened the year at No. 8.
And that makes their marquee season opener against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Aug. 31 all the more intriguing. Notre Dame, last season’s national runner-up, is beginning the season at No. 6. So when the teams meet at Hard Rock Stadium, it will be the Hurricanes’ first top-10 matchup to begin a season since 2004, when then-No. 5 Miami beat then-No. 4 Florida State 16-10 in overtime at the Orange Bowl to kick off that season.
Other season-opening top-10 matchups in UM history came in 1988 (then-No. 6 Miami’s 31-0 win over then-No. 1 FSU), 1984 (then-No. 10 Miami’s 20-18 win at then-No. 1 Auburn) and 1955 (then-No. 9 Miami’s 14-6 loss at then-No. 10 Georgia Tech).
Last year, Miami began the season at No. 19 in the poll and was ranked every week. The Hurricanes climbed as high as No. 4 after starting the season a perfect 9-0 before falling off down the stretch. UM lost three of its final four games to finish the season 10-3 and No. 18 in the poll, its highest end-of-season ranking since 2017 (No. 13).
The Texas Longhorns are the preseason No. 1 team and received 25 of 65 first-place votes. The Penn State Nittany Lions, Ohio State Buckeyes, Clemson Tigers and Georgia Bulldogs follow from Nos. 2-5, with Notre Dame, the Oregon Ducks, Alabama Crimson Tide, LSU Tigers and Miami rounding out the top 10.
With these rankings, there will be three top-10 matchups on college football’s opening weekend: No. 1 Texas at No. 3 Ohio State (Aug. 30, noon), No. 9 LSU at No. 4 Clemson (Aug. 30, 7:30 p.m.) and Notre Dame at Miami.
More Miami Hurricanes in the poll notables
▪ The 2025 season marks the eighth time since 2000 that UM has opened the season in the top 10. The Hurricanes were No. 8 in 2018 and in the top 10 every year from 2000 to 2005.
▪ In addition to Notre Dame, UM will face two other teams ranked in the preseason poll during the regular season. UM hosts the No. 15 Florida Gators on Sept. 20 and travels to play the No. 16 SMU Mustangs in Dallas on Nov. 1.
▪ Clemson, Miami and SMU are the only three Atlantic Coast Conference teams who will begin the season in the top 25, although Louisville, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Duke and Pittsburgh all received votes.
The AP preseason top 25
The full AP top 25 is below, with the total number of first-place votes in parenthesis.
1.) Texas Longhorns (25)
2.) Penn State Nittany Lions (23)
3.) Ohio State Buckeyes (11)
4.) Clemson Tigers (4)
5.) Georgia Bulldogs (1)
6.) Notre Dame Fighting Irish
7.) Oregon Ducks (1)
8.) Alabama Crimson Tide
9.) LSU Tigers
10.) Miami Hurricanes
11.) Arizona State Sun Devils
12.) Illinois Fighting Illini
13.) South Carolina Gamecocks
14.) Michigan Wolverines
15.) Florida Gators
16.) SMU Mustangs
17.) Kansas State Wildcats
18.) Oklahoma Sooners
19.) Texas A&M Aggies
20.) Indiana Hoosiers
21.) Ole Miss Rebels
22.) Iowa State Cyclones
23.) Texas Tech Red Raiders
24.) Tennessee Volunteers
25.) Boise State Broncos
This story was originally published August 11, 2025 at 1:41 PM.
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