Cote’s Hot Button Top 10: Canes’ big climb, Messi makes history, Heat, Fins, more
GREG COTE’S HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (NOVEMBER 9): WHAT IN SPORTS HAS GRABBED US THIS WEEK: Canes beat Syracuse but face long climb to CFP, Messi leads Inter Miami to playoff advance, Heat weather Spo’s house fire, Dolphins host Bills, champ Panthers struggling, college hoops underway and more. Welcome to the 125th edition of HB10 -- back after a one-week hiatus -- bringing you what’s on our minds from a Miami lens and accentuating stuff that’s big, weird, damnable, funny or worth needling as the sports week past pivots to the week ahead:
1. HURRICANES: UM spanks Syracuse, but how high the rise in CFP rankings?: No. 18 Miami scored a decisive 38-10 home win over Syracuse Saturday, roaring after a slow first half. But it may not mean more than a three-spot bump in the College Football Playoff rankings. UM figures to jump over Saturday losers No. 14 Virginia, 15-Louisville and 17-Missouri. Virginia and L’ville losses were big in Miami’s thin hope to still reach the ACC title game. Strong defense and Carson Beck led the win with 247 yards passing, one TD throw and another on a trick-play reception.
2. INTER MIAMI: Messi leads Miami to historic playoff advance: Lionel Messi scored two first-half goals Saturday night in Fort Lauderdale to lead a clinching 4-0 rout of Nashville in first round of MLS playoffs -- earning the first postseason series advance in club history. Miami had been humiliatingly eliminated in the first round a year ago. Saturday’s impressive win was despite striker Luis Suarez sitting out with a suspension. Herons will face No. 2-seed Cincinnati in the Eastern Conference semifinals, but after at least a week off.
3. HEAT: Miami wins for Spoelsltra amid house-fire devastation: Heat is 6-4 with a second straight win: Saturday’s 136-131 home sprint past Portland led by Nikola Jovic’s career-high 29 points. Team has risen in support of coach Erik Spoelstra, whose house was destroyed in a massive fire this week while he was away with thankfully no one at home. He did not miss coaching even a single game. Miami, now missing Bam Adebayo along with Tyler Herro to injury, hosts a doubleheader vs. Cleveland Monday and Wednesday before heading to New York.
4. DOLPHINS: Struggling Miami hosts nemesis Buffalo Bills: Will the Dolphins show enough fight to save Mike McDaniel’s job? Is it better to lose for better draft position? Is the rest of the season must-prove for QB Tua Tagovailoa? So many questions in a season 2-7 and going nowhere. And now come the nemesis Buffalo Bills, in full stride, trying to get to a Super Bowl and thinking they can. The Bills have won seven in a row and 14 of past 15 in this AFC East rivalry, though many have been close including a 31-21 Miami loss earlier this season. If McDaniel and Tua are both worth keeping, this would be a good time to show it.
5. PANTHERS: Struggling Cats can’t win without Bob in net: Florida is now 0-4 with Sergei Bobrovsky not in goal and struggling at 7-8 overall after Saturday’s loss in San Jose as it seeks a third straight Stanley Cup championship. The panthers have been plain-average since a 3-0 start, without captain Aleksander Barkov for the entire season and missing star Matthew Tkachuk until December. Cats are back on ice in Vegas Monday before heading home to Sunrise.
6. COLLEGE HOOPS: Miami’s Jai Lucas era preps for first real test: I know. We don’t really pay attention to college basketball ‘til after Christmas or when conference games start. But the unranked Hurricanes men are 2-0 in a soft opening for new coach Jai Lucas, with another on deck in Stetson -- then the first true test vs. No. 3 Florida next Sunday in Jacksonville. Lucas is trying to excavate from the 7-24 (3-17 ACC) mess he inherited. Progress already: UM was midpack (8th of 18) in the ACC preseason poll. Canes women were 14-15 last year (4-14 ACC) and also are 2-0 early under second-year coach Tricia Cullop.
7. NASCAR: Finale affirm Hamlin’s career epitaph is heartbreak: Denny Hamlin -- at age 44 the greatest driver to never win a Cup Series season championship -- was three laps away from his first, but instead left Phoenix Raceway as downtrodden as he’s been. Hamlin led 208 laps from the pole, had the fastest lap and was leading into a late caution and overtime ... when Kyle Larson surged and snatched what most hoped would be Hamlin’s destiny. Ah, sports.
8. NFL: The sad, public cascade of Antonio Brown: The former star NFL receiver, Miami-born, out of football since 2021 and 37 now, was arrested on an attempted murder charge emanating from a May shooting following a celebrity boxing event in Miami. He’d been taken into custody by U.S. Marshals in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and was being held in New Jersey before being extradited to his hometown. His unraveling has been tough to watch. Wish him well.
9. BULL RIDING: Florida Freedom thrown, land hard in finals: The Florida Freedom team that plays its Professional Bull Riders league games in Sunrise dominated the regular season led by league MVP John Crimber and was No. 1 seed -- but then sort of, well, gagged in the playoffs. Florida was ousted in the first round of the finals in Las Vegas as the Carolina Cowboys won the championship of the four-year-old league.
10. NFL: Tom Brady clones his dog: Is the Super Bowl legend-turned-Raiders part owner and mediocre broadcaster quirky, eccentric or just plain weird? (Or is he a savvy businessman who knows promotion!?) Brady announced his new dog Junie is a clone of his former dog Lua, who died in 2023. Colossal Biosciences cloned the pit bull mix using a previously collected blood sample. Turns out Brady is an investor of Colossal Biosciences! Some coincidence, eh?
THE LIST: NBA CUP: Let us acknowledge and then ignore the NBA Cup, the league’s “in-season tournament” that somehow has survived to its third year despite being thoroughly unnecessary:
Season NBA Cup championship U.S. (TV viewers)
2023-24 Lakers def. Pacers, 123-109 (4.58 million)
2024-25 Bucks def. Thunder, 97-81 (2.99 million)
2025-26 Underway with group play; final Dec. 16 in Las Vegas
Other select most recent stuff from me: Canes crush Syracuse, but still a mountain to climb to CFP / NFL Week 10 picks / Poll Dance: Can Tua make Dolphins champions? / Updated Herald NFL QB Rankings / Bags over heads, season dead, as Grier departure signals Dolphins reboot / How Miami project -- and forgiveness -- helped Marc Buoniconti turn tragedy to triumph // Previous HB10 // Beloved cast member leaving Dan Le Batard Show // Wounded, doubted but nobody’s underdog, champ Panthers win opener // Barkov lost for season a mortal blow to Panthers’ 3-peat bid // Dolphins owner Ross’ prior in-season firings hints McDaniel at risk // Super Bowl to Dolphins to dregs: My annual NFL Team Rankings! // Cristobal has ‘insatiable’ drive for new Hurricanes glory days, and he’s getting close // Cowboys owner Jerry Jones still chasing glory -- and attention // Heat getting 3-point ace Powell a pickpocket-win for Riley // Champion Panthers keep revving this summer while Heat stays quiet // Inter Miami falls to PSG but won big to reach Club World Cup final 16 // Major news on future of Dan Le Batard Show, Meadowlark Media, DraftKings // A tribute to Miami sports legend Jimmy Johnson as he retires from Fox TV // 15 years later, Dolphins Cancer Challenge is life-saving legacy of Jim Mandich // And my latest podcast:
