subject: Miami Hurricanes - Championship Caliber [print this page] For nearly thirty years now, few college football teams have enjoyed more consistent success than the Miami Hurricanes. Not only do they now hold the record for the most consecutive wins at home in college football history - having during one stretch won 58 home games in a row. Things were not always so positive for the Hurricanes, and they spent much of their history without a national championship. That ended in the 1983-84 season when the Miami team won the national title at last. That event would be repeated four more times over the next twenty years, as the Hurricanes posted after a winning season and positioned themselves as one of the most elite teams in the NCAA ranks. Their winning ways have been highlighted by a total of two Heisman Award winners and a series of incredible winning streaks including the aforementioned home victory streak.
There's one thing that college football fans can all agree on: you either love the Hurricanes or you hate them. The Hurricanes are just one of those teams that elicit strong emotions. Part of this is due to their success on the field, and in the continuing success that many of their players have long after leaving the school. When you view the lineups of many NFL teams during a game, it is hard not to notice just how many of the players went to school at Miami! Then, of course, there is the fact that the Miami teams of the 1990s were often perceived as being too "showy" and full of themselves. In truth, that was almost certainly a false portrayal, particularly since those players went on to be outstanding team players in the professional teams with which they played. The truth is that many fans just found the hyper-successful Miami Hurricanes an easy team to hate - in much the same way that many basketball fans hate the Duke Blue Devils.
The streaks
Any conversation about the Miami home win streak should begin by pointing out that it was but one of many Miami victory streaks. The string of home victories extended from 1985 until 1994, and is perhaps the best evidence of just how loyal and excitable the home fans of any Miami game can be. That 58 game streak is impressive - but equally impressive is the 34-game streak compiled by the Hurricanes between the years 2000 and 2003. During that streak, Miami won not only all of their home games, but their away games as well. A decade before, Miami had compiled a streak of 29 such wins. Both streaks give evidence to just how powerful the Hurricanes had become, as few teams are able to go even one year without losing a game in their opponent's stadiums. The Hurricanes did it for several years in a row.
Still in the game
The dominance of the SEC in recent years has left some observers feeling as though the Hurricanes may be in somewhat of a dormant phase. Of course, it is laughable to make such predictions solely upon the fact that the team has not won a championship in a mere eight years. After all, many teams have never won the national championship. Still, Miami remains a popular recruiting choice for the nation's top talent, and that is always a good sign that there will probably be many more championship opportunities for the program in the future.
