10 Power 5 National Championship dark horse contenders
By John Buhler
Given their situation, could the Miami Hurricanes have landed a better head coach than Mark Richt? Not a chance. Indeed, with the former Georgia Bulldogs head coach and long-ago Hurricanes backup quarterback at the helm, the Miami football factory could be back to national prominence in no time flat.
Richt averaged 10 wins a season during his 15 years in Athens, but that wasn’t enough for him to keep his job in the hyper-competitive SEC. Now back with his alma mater, Richt should have his Hurricanes as one of the preeminent contenders in the ACC Coastal Division.
Being realistic, the overwhelming favorites to represent the ACC in the third annual College Football Playoff this winter are the beasts of the Atlantic Division —basically, the winner of Clemson-Florida State. As things stand, the ‘Canes’ toughest test in the Coastal is probably last year’s division champions North Carolina. Still, there’s little else preventing Miami from representing the Coastal in the ACC Championship in Charlotte.
Outside of Florida State (at home on Oct. 8) and a tough non-conference road game against Notre Dame on (Oct. 29), Richt should have a marginally navigable 2016 NCAA schedule in front of him his first year at the helm.
Miami gets North Carolina, Duke, and the Pittsburgh Panthers all at home in Coastal play. Georgia Tech will almost certainly be better than the 3-9 dumpster fire of a year ago, while Virginia and Virginia Tech could both see improvement under Bronco Mendenhall and Justin Fuente, respectively.
That said, Miami should be the better team in all three of its ACC Coastal road games. Miami’s other ACC game out of the Atlantic (beyond FSU) is North Carolina State (in Raleigh), but that’s not a brutal game by any means.
Realistically, Miami can lose to Florida State and, as long as the Hurricanes beat North Carolina, still contend for an ACC Championship. An upset victory over Clemson, Florida State, or perhaps Louisville in the 2016 ACC Championship might be enough to catapult the Hurricanes to the College Football Playoff — assuming a tough road win over Notre Dame in early October.
Miami still managed to make a bowl last year despite a season of chaos following the firing of former head coach Al Golden. Richt will have this Hurricanes program buttoned up in no time. He is one of the game’s ultimate quarterback whisperers, and his track record in coaching the position is near beyond reproach.
Richt worked with Charlie Ward, Danny Kanell, and Chris Weinke at Florida State, along with David Greene, D.J. Shockley, Matthew Stafford, and Aaron Murray at Georgia. Even if they’re only together for one year, Richt will elevate Hurricanes starter Brad Kaaya to a certain first-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. Miami should go 9-3 (6-2) at worst in Richt’s first year back at the old alma mater.
Next: 5. Georgia Bulldogs.