See the Miami Hurricanes arrive at team hotel before national championship game
The Miami Hurricanes have completed their long, arduous trek for the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
The 10th-ranked Hurricanes arrived at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach on Friday afternoon, where they will stay until they play the No. 1 Indiana Hoosiers on Monday at Hard Rock Stadium (7:30 p.m., ESPN).
Total distance traveled from the University of Miami campus in Coral Gables to hotel: A little less than 20 miles, and they didn’t even have to cross the county line.
No flight required. Just a few buses and maneuvering through Miami traffic with a police escort.
“We appreciate the short bus ride; we do,” Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal said. “Seeing our fans line up outside San Amaro Drive [on UM’s campus] and support our players, it’s great for them to see.”
That’s one of the perks of advancing to a national championship game played at their home stadium.
But while they don’t have to leave South Florida, the Hurricanes are still treating these next few days like every other game they have played so far in the College Football Playoff — during which they’ve played games in College Station, Texas; Arlington, Texas; and Glendale, Arizona — as they eye their sixth national football title in school history and first since the 2001 season.
“The routine doesn’t change at all,” Cristobal said. “It’s almost identical because you do have to check into a hotel, a specific hotel on a specific date. The only thing that changes is that classes have started, and we have, 29 of the 30 new members of our team [from the 2026 signing class] here practicing with us, which is great for us. As the year goes on we’ve lost some guys to injury. And they’ve been able to get a glimpse of what preparation is like. But aside from that and preparing for a game, nothing changes.”
See more photos of the team’s arrival from staff photographer Matias J. Ocner below.
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