The college football season is over. The CFP Championship didn’t end up as pundits had projected before the beginning of the year. And even though we’ve seen how the Transfer Portal and NIL money has completely changed the landscape those same pundits are at it again dragging out the same tired, old nonsense about who will dominate the world of college football this fall. Don’t fall for it.
Indiana, despite the many years of drought on the field found their way to a title match against Miami, a team that has a storied football history and the Hoosiers came away with a grinding win. An unexpected Big Ten team against an ACC team that had aspirations and certainly was recognized among the top tier but that, nonetheless took a slightly different route to the championship game. It was, perhaps the most unexpected final serving of college football for fans but man oh man was it delicious.
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From an ACC perspective the lingering question year after year has been, is the U back? There were plenty of indications that this would be ‘that’ year we’d hear, yes. The ACC is a fickle conference in almost every sport. As a team, you aren’t guaranteed a win against anyone. With that in mind Miami started the season at No. 10 and defeated No. 11 Notre Dame 27-24. It was a promising start. The Canes then went on to win against in-state rivals Florida, 26-7 and Florida State, 28-22. Confidence was building.
Football
Coming off that high landed them in the danger zone of the conference. Louisville came away with a 24-21 win and two games later SMU won in OT, 26-20. It was a wake-up call for the players and the coaches. Don’t take any opponent for granted. The Canes put the pedal to the metal and maintained a high ranking among pollsters and ultimately the CFP committee. The recovery from those losses helped convince observers that this team was for real.
Meanwhile, the changes made in how teams qualified (tie-breakers) to play in the ACC Football Championship game precluded Miami. This meant that Virginia and Duke would face off in Charlotte. The Blue Devils came away with the title. Because neither Virginia or Duke were ranked in the CFP the only opportunity available to include an additional team would have been if Virginia had won the ACC because of their record.
It can be argued, rightfully so, that this wasn’t the most ideal way of deciding things but every team in the conference agreed to it. Hopefully the ACC will make some changes now that they know it wasn’t the best arrangement.
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Whether you’re a fan of Miami or not the Canes had a much more fruitful season than they’ve had in a long time. Is the ‘U’ back? The answer was yes for this season and if the momentum they’ve built continues it will continue to be yes. It’s a different world in college football though. Those glory years for Miami and any other team are behind us. It’s time to build upon what is here now and move forward. Other teams will rise to block the way and perhaps take the reins. The days of conferences having one or two dominant teams is pretty much over with.
This has been a phenomenal season for Miami, for a multitude of ACC teams both during the regular season and post-season. If you take a close look at the players coming into programs either recruited or through the portal you’ll see that 2026 is even more promising. We’re looking forward to talking with our colleagues across college sports who cover the ACC in our annual preview series beginning over the summer. Be sure to follow us on YouTube or subscribe to ACC Nation podcast for those episodes.
Welcome to a new world of ACC football where anything can and will happen. Buckle up for a fun ride. The best is yet to come.
