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If you haven’t noticed, over the last week, SB Nation has done a network-wide theme week about the best teams to never win championships. And, here at SOTU, we’ve taken a look at some of the best Miami Hurricanes teams that didn’t win a championship.
In case you missed them, let’s run down the list right quick:
First, Justin Dottavio looked at the 1992 team, which was a monster until things fell apart in the Sugar Bowl against Alabama.
What went wrong for the 1992 Miami Hurricanes? Hurricane Andrew shocked us all in South Florida, and Miami rode a 29 game win streak into the Sugar Bowl against the 2nd ranked Crimson Tide. https://t.co/kXhxGshZXS pic.twitter.com/fulzmnBXgi
— StateOfTheU.com (@TheStateOfTheU) April 13, 2020
Then, Todd Forrest detailed the downfall of the 1988 team, which was derailed by one of the worst calls you’ll ever see in their game at Notre Dame.
Best Team to Never Win a Title: 1988 Miami Hurricanes
— StateOfTheU.com (@TheStateOfTheU) April 14, 2020
Did a brutal call at Notre Dame knock the ‘88 Canes from among the program’s elite and rewrite the history of college football? https://t.co/bgU5U6ZyA0 pic.twitter.com/TsYtwUcjTA
Next, John Michaels relived the horror in the Fiesta Bowl that saw the 1986 Canes steal defeat from the hands of victory against a Penn State team they should have beaten by 7 touchdowns.
Best to Never Win a Championship: 1986 Miami Hurricanes. The #Canes melted down in a Fiesta Bowl loss to keep them out of the discussion for greatest team ever. https://t.co/rXibXAKyv4 pic.twitter.com/ni5UpLaT8F
— StateOfTheU.com (@TheStateOfTheU) April 15, 2020
Jumping ahead a good few years, Marshall Thomas took us back to the year 2000, where an early season loss was the foundation for the BCS robbing Miami and putting a Florida State team THAT MIAMI BEAT HEAD TO HEAD in the championship game (where the Noles were shutout by an Oklahoma team who didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell against Miami).
Best to Never Win a Championship: 2000 Miami Hurricanes https://t.co/hPnkxonfK5 pic.twitter.com/ztgAwX797d
— StateOfTheU.com (@TheStateOfTheU) April 17, 2020
And lastly, Craig T. Smith detailed the season (well game) that I’m sure many of you immediately thought of when you saw the title of this series: the 2003 Fiesta Bowl robbery by Terry Porter.
Best to Never Win a Championship: 2002 Miami Hurricanes https://t.co/MQk3PbteJV pic.twitter.com/2EQIoDbGL2
— StateOfTheU.com (@TheStateOfTheU) April 17, 2020
As a lifelong baseball fan (and a Miami Hurricanes baseball fan before I even enrolled at Miami when I was growing up in Michigan), I have to include the 1996 Canes Baseball team here as well. That was a loaded team with an incredible roster and they were 1 out away from winning the College World Series...................and then Warren Morris stepped to the plate for LSU and nothing was the same.
The 1996 Miami Hurricanes baseball team went 50-14, and had All-American Pat Burrell as a freshman, a season that saw him win awards as National Freshman of the Year, 1st Team All-American, CWS All-Tournament team, and even the CWS’s Most Outstanding Player on a team that didn’t win the championship, Alex Cora (a future MLBer as a player and manager) at SS, JD Arteaga as the ace of the pitching staff, and 15 players who were drafted in that year’s MLB Draft.
The 1996 Canes Baseball squad lost their first game in regionals before going on a 7 game win-streak between there and the CWS. Miami outscored their CWS opponents 36-9 before dropping the championship game 9-8 on the infamous (or iconic, depending on your viewpoint) walk-off home run by LSU’s Morris.
Even with 5 Football and 4 Baseball National Championships, Miami’s trophy cases could be even more robustly stocked if not for a few key instances going the wrong way.
So, fellow Canes fans, which was the best Miami Hurricanes team to never win a championship? Vote in the poll and hop in the comments and let your voice be heard!
Poll
Which Miami Hurricanes team was the best to never win a Championship?
This poll is closed
-
24%
1986 Football Team
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7%
1988 Football Team
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1%
1992 Football Team
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0%
1996 Baseball team
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24%
2000 Football Team
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41%
2002 Football Team