Miami Hurricanes Enter AP Top 25 Poll
CBS Miami: As Miami fans continue to feel quite content with the Hurricanes' 70-3 season-opening win over Florida A&M University, the team got some good news Tuesday afternoon that'll keep fans smiling.
UM entered the Associated Press Top 25 poll Tuesday, earning the No. 25 spot in the week two release.
Defending National champ Alabama remained in the No. 1 spot; followed a pair of ACC teams – Clemson at No. 2 and Florida State, who rallied from a 22-point deficit on Monday night to defeat Ole Miss, at No. 3.
The Hurricanes are the only other ACC team on the list; the Big Ten has five teams in the latest AP Poll – headlined by rivals Ohio State (No. 4) and Michigan (No. 5) and Wisconsin jumping to No. 10 after defeating LSU, which fell to No. 21.
UM was not ranked in the USA Today Coaches Poll, which was released earlier Tuesday, but it was one of the leading vote-getters.
For Miami, earning a spot in the AP Top 25 is a nice accolade, not only for what the team did in its lopsided win over the Rattlers but also for the elevated level of expertise that the new coaching staff brings to the program.
After the game against FAMU and a couple days prior to the release of the rankings, Canes junior quarterback was asked about the team possibly earning a spot in the top 25.
"It's cool to hopefully get into the top 25," Kaaya said. "Being ranked is something that we haven't been in a while. I don't remember a time that we were in the top 25 in the last couple years…so that'd be awesome."
The last time the Hurricanes found themselves in the AP rankings was in 2013 when UM earned the No. 24 spot the week of November 10th – when Kaaya was a senior in high school.
Miami, which will face a tougher test this Saturday when it hosts Florida Atlantic (6 p.m. kickoff at Hard Rock Stadium), looked like a different team than it had in years previous this past Sunday. Granted it was in one game against an inferior FCS-level opponent, there was a noticeable difference in the way the Canes went about winning the game.
Still, slipping into the backend of Top 25 rankings at the second week of the season is not Miami's ultimate goal.
"For us, the plan is to keep going and not worry about the outside. I mean, the ranking would be nice but at the same time we can't just sit on that," Kaaya said postgame this past Saturday. "If they rank us outside the top 25, if they rank us No. 25 or No. 24. It doesn't matter. We have guys who are still hungry and are still going to keep going."
AP Top 25 Poll – September 6th, 2016
1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Florida State
4. Ohio State
5. Michigan
6. Houston
7. Stanford
8. Washington
9. Georgia
10. Wisconsin
11. Texas
12. Michigan State
13. Louisville
14. Oklahoma
15. TCU
16. Iowa
17. Tennessee
18. Notre Dame
19. Ole Miss
20. Texas A&M
21. LSU
22. Oklahoma State
23. Baylor
24. Oregon
25. Miami
Others receiving votes: Florida 117, UCLA 62, Boise State 50, Utah 43, San Diego State 37, North Carolina 23, Nebraska 13, Auburn 13, Pittsburgh 7, BYU 5, Navy 2, West Virginia 1, Colorado 1.
