Miami’s unbeaten start has put the Hurricanes in a strong spot, but the back half of the schedule looks a lot less forgiving than it did in August.
Miami is 5-0 and ranked No. 4 in the country, a start that has come with plenty of noise around the schedule the Hurricanes were handed. Early in the season, Miami was criticized for building what many viewed as an “easy” path back to the College Football Playoff. That talk has faded some, because the last seven opponents on the slate are currently a combined 25-8, and three of those seven teams are still unbeaten.
With the bye week here, the focus turns to the stretch that will define the rest of the regular season.
The game that stands above everything else is the Nov. 7 trip to Notre Dame. It is the rematch of last year’s season opener and the kind of matchup that has been circled since the schedule came out. Notre Dame is 5-0 and ranked No. 3 in the AP Poll, one spot ahead of Miami, and the Irish have had this date waiting on the calendar ever since last season’s 27-24 loss to the Hurricanes in August.
That defeat ended up costing Notre Dame a spot in the CFP, and the frustration around it lingered well beyond the final whistle. On Dec. 7, 2025, when Miami grabbed the last playoff spot over Notre Dame, CFP Committee Chair Hunter Yurachek explained the decision this way: “You look at those two teams on paper, and they’re almost equal in their schedule strength, their common opponents, the results against their common opponents,” CFP Committee Chair Hunter Yurachek said on Dec. 7, 2025, when Miami took the last playoff spot over Notre Dame. “But the one metric we had to fall back on, again, was the head-to-head.”
“With that in mind, we gave Miami the nod over Notre Dame into that 10 spot.”
Afterward, Notre Dame Athletic Director Pete Bevacqua blasted the CFP selection committee and the ACC. The Irish then chose to “take their ball and go home,” declining their invitation to the Pop-Tarts Bowl against BYU - a team ND will play on Oct. 17 - and ending their season.
The Miami-Notre Dame rematch is set for 7:30 p.m. EST in South Bend, Ind.
If the Hurricanes get through that one, the rest of the conference slate still deserves attention. Miami is 3-0 in ACC play and is expected to keep that record clean, but if the Canes stumble against Notre Dame, winning the conference may become the clearest route back to the playoff.
Three league games stand out in particular: Pitt on Oct. 24, Duke on Nov. 14 and Virginia Tech on Nov.
- All three are at home, but none should be treated like a routine walk-through.
Those teams are a combined 13-1, and each has shown enough to make Miami pay if it lets up.
Pitt is already ranked No. 25 in the AP Poll and remains in the hunt for the top spot in the ACC even with starting quarterback Mason Heintschel out for the season.
Virginia Tech is coming off a heartbreaking loss to Pitt, but under former Penn State coach James Franklin, the Hokies are off to their best start since 2017, when they opened 4-0. Miami has controlled this rivalry recently, winning six straight and eight of the last 10, yet the change at the top gives this one a different feel.
Then there is Duke, which has kept rolling after an ACC Championship victory against Virginia and a Sun Bowl win over Arizona State. Former Miami head coach Manny Diaz has the Blue Devils at 4-0, including a road win at Illinois. Diaz will face his old program, along with two players he coached in Darian Mensah and Cooper Barkate, and Miami’s homecoming game could end up being far more competitive than it first looked.
Before all of that, the Canes have one more rivalry test waiting. Florida State comes to Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 17, at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN.
The Seminoles are 3-2 and have had trouble putting together a full game against ranked opponents, but that does not make the matchup safe. Miami and Florida State have played 70 times, and 33 of those meetings - including five of the last nine - have been decided by one score. Rivalry games tend to ignore records, and this one deserves the same warning.
For Miami, the message is simple: the path is still there, but the margin for error is shrinking.
In Other News...
Miami Bye Week Put One Defensive Problem Under The Spotlight
The bye week gave Miami a chance to step back and look hard at a defense that has been good enough in stretches, but not clean enough in one of the most basic areas of the game. Through five games of the 2026 season, the Hurricanes sit 115th nationally in tackling grade according to Pro Football Focus, and the number fits the eye test for a unit that has at times let routine stops turn into extra yardage.
The encouraging part for Miami is that the problem does not appear to be universal. Chase Smith and Justin Scott have been among the defenders showing strong tackling consistency, while several others have missed at rates above 15 percent, a level that stands out compared with recent National Championship teams. As the season moves on, the Hurricanes will be judged not just by how often they get to the ball, but by how reliably they finish the play once they are there. [Read more 🡒]
Miami Just Sent A Clear ACC Message Before Florida State
The ACC race is tightening in a hurry, and Miami has put itself squarely in the thick of it with a decisive win over Clemson. Around the league, Florida State answered with a dominant showing against Virginia, Pittsburgh held off Virginia Tech despite losing starting quarterback Mason Heintschel to a torn ACL, Louisville has now dropped back-to-back games, and Wake Forest keeps hanging around as one of the conferences steadier teams.
What makes Miamis statement so important is the timing. With only three teams still unbeaten in ACC play, every week now feels like a separator, and the Hurricanes have given themselves a chance to shape the conversation before the Florida State matchup. The leagues depth is showing up in the standings and on the field, which means Miamis margin for error is getting smaller even as its own momentum keeps growing. [Read more 🡒]
Shelton Henderson Faces A Bigger Miami Role Than Ever
After a strong freshman season, Shelton Henderson is headed back to Miami with a much larger spotlight waiting for him. The Hurricanes and new head coach Jai Lucas are both treating the sophomore forward as more than just a returning piece, with Henderson expected to step into a leadership role as the roster shapes up for the coming season.
Jai Lucas and Henderson have already talked through the next step in his development, and the biggest area of focus is clear: shooting. Miami sees Henderson as an important contributor who can help set the tone on and off the floor, and how far he pushes that part of his game could go a long way toward determining just how much the Hurricanes can get out of him this year. [Read more 🡒]