Hurricanes Predicted To Make Bid For National Title
Feb. 19, 2001
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (www.hurricanesports.com) – The Miami Hurricanes, fresh of an 11-1 season and a 37-20 victory over Florida in the Nokia Sugar Bowl, are projected by one national media source to compete for college football’s national title at the conclusion of the 2001 season.
CBS Sportsline.com made that prediction when it recently released its “Pre-Spring Preseason Top 25”. Sportsline predicted a UM-Florida rematch at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
“The unexpected coaching switch at Miami hasn’t deterred us from our original thought — that Miami will be up to the task of reaching the BCS title game, this time in the Rose Bowl,” writes Sportsline college football editor Anthony Gimino. “Larry Coker . . . held together Miami’s recruiting class and added a couple of studs on his own … so, we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt for now when it comes to game-planning.”
Gimino predicts both teams racing through the regular season undefeated, setting up the BCS like this:
Rose Bowl: Florida vs. Miami
Fiesta Bowl: Oregon vs. Oklahoma
Sugar Bowl: Tennessee vs. Texas
Fiesta Bowl: Florida State vs. Michigan.
The Hurricanes open the season with a trip to State College, Pennsylvania, to take on perennial power Penn State on Saturday, Sept. 1. Hurricanes football team will face one of the toughest schedules in the nation, including games with six teams that played in bowl games in the 2000 season and three games with teams that ended the season ranked in the top 10 nationally.
