ESPN has Canes at #8 for 2026

[major kong]

Inane nonsense.

 

[stormsurge]

idiots
were there 6 sec team ahead of us?

 

[ShadowSpring]

without Mensah that's probably high TBH

 

[major kong]

without Mensah that's probably high TBH

No, it seems they factor in Mensah being in Miami

 

[3rd-43]

lol

 

[Caniac16]

That is fair. The heart and soul of this team were Bain, Mesi and Cici. They're all gone. Time to develop and make another run.

 

[TriStarCane]

We are losing

Starting QB
2 starting WRs
4 OL
Two best edges in college football
1 good DT
1 (maybe 2) starting LBers
Best nickel in CFB
1 safety
K

The fact we are top 8 means they respect the reload. But we lose a lot. Be objective

 

[CreamCityCane]

idiots
were there 6 sec team ahead of us?

Indiana
Texas
Notre Dame
UGA
Oregon
Ohio State
Texas Tech
Miami

If you asked someone to set the playoff field for 2026, I think most people would include those 8. So if Miami is viewed as part of that group, I think its reasonable.

I think there is a gap before 9-11 (Ole Miss, aTm, and BYU) and Miami should be viewed as better than those 3.

 

[nycane]

no one had us making the playoffs before the year. who cares?

 

[3rd-43]

if moten comes back plus the supposed portal additions and coaching efficiency improves / ST improvement we are are national championship contender

 

[YankeesCane]

Another year, same nonsense from ESPN

Ohio St #1, Sayin is a Heisman leader blah blah blah
Texas time to shine, the year of Arch

Same garbage about Oregon and they'll hype Notre Dame becuase they feel slighted

Texas Tech, BYU, Big 12, please, we all know the deal

Oklahoma again overrated

As always, Miami needs to fight its way to the playoff

 

[CaneMutiny06]

Until we start dominating ACC opposition the way OSU, Indiana, Oregon, Georgia dominate theirs, we’re going to have a hard time cracking those preseason top 5 rankings, regardless of the fact that we just played for the NC.

 

[JayCane20]

8 is a good starting point. Laughable to have Georgia that high though.

We really need to get a top 4 seed. Its way too hard to win 4 straight top 10 games in the playoff. Cut it to having to play 3 if we want to get back there and potentially win it. It's turning into March Madness and College World Series.. best team doesn't always win it anymore... the hottest team wins.

That's gonna require 11-1 and an ACC championship to be top 4. Maybe even running the table.

 

[Go Canes!!]

Honestly, who gives a ****.

 

[YankeesCane]

How many 25 yr olds is Indiana going to add

 

[LuCane]

Spot the ******* ball.

 

[D7.]

No, it seems they factor in Mensah being in Miami

Wild if true. From that list provided, we should be Top 5 bare minimum.

 

[caneworld]

We are losing

Starting QB
2 starting WRs
4 OL
Two best edges in college football
1 good DT
1 (maybe 2) starting LBers
Best nickel in CFB
1 safety
K

The fact we are top 6 means they respect the reload. But we lose a lot. Be objective

We are losing the worst TE to ever play at Miami.... that should move us up in the rankings

 

[CaneMutiny06]

8 is a good starting point. Laughable to have Georgia that high though.

We really need to get a top 4 seed. Its way too hard to win 4 straight top 10 games in the playoff. Cut it to having to play 3 if we want to get back there and potentially win it. It's turning into March Madness and College World Series.. best team doesn't always win it anymore... the hottest team wins.

That's gonna require 11-1 and an ACC championship to be top 4. Maybe even running the table.

Yup, need to dominate the ACC like Clemson did between ‘15 and ‘21.

Unfortunately we haven’t demonstrated we can do that yet.

Needs to be the focus of Mario this offseason. I don’t even care if we beat ND, I’d rather go 9-0 in conference and look good doing it.

 

[CreativeCane]

It feels like this team finally broke through and I would honestly be surprised to see lackluster performances moving forward. Mario showed after the SMU loss that he seems to understand you can't take the foot off the gas.