Miami Hurricanes are Biggest Question Mark of Coming ACC Season

By Geoffrey Knox
Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

Eight conference losses doesn’t normally get you noticed, but you have to give the Miami Hurricanes something for style points. After climbing to the Top 15 in the polls last year and winning their first eight games, things got crazy. Miami must have read the paper, asked around, or looked around the locker room. It showed because they went from that impressive team with the impressive start to turning themselves into, well, Miami.

ACC fans and fans of the program were then treated to the on court version of a roller coaster ride. That team that rose to a top 15 ranking played down to their competition at times and up to their competition at other times. It’s almost hard to explain. They walked into Durham and beat the Duke Blue Devils by 16 points. They also got blown out at home by the Green Bay Phoenix and the Eastern Kentucky Colonels.

Miami fans were witnesses to an early exit in the ACC tournament; after checking the mailbox and realizing they weren’t invited to the Big Dance, they went on a run in the NIT tournament and made it all the way to the championship game. There, they would finally stall out once and for all with a valiant overtime loss to the Stanford Cardinal. It was truly an exhausting season for fans of this team and fans of college basketball in general who witnessed any of this happening.

Now, a new season approaches and much is expected. These days, elite talent doesn’t stay around long; but here we are with a team that adds Kamari Murphy from the Oklahoma State Cowboys and showcases a starting five with three seniors (two of whom are in their fifth year) and two juniors. These are literally grown men.

The ups and downs of last year are behind them; but if this veteran presence can benefit from all the experience they’ve gained, there may be a bit of a storm brewing in South Florida.

Geoffrey Knox is a Writer for ACC Basketball and SEC Football for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @gq_4_eva, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google+.

Share On FacebookShare StumbleUpon

You May Also Like