Andy Staples predicts Miami will play in ACC Championship Game in 2024

There are some pretty big expectations for the Miami Hurricanes and head coach Mario Cristobal in 2024. That includes competing in the ACC Championship Game.

During his show, Andy Staples On3, Andy Staples worked on some predictions for the 2024 college football season. That included Miami playing for a conference championship in the ACC, thanks to the very talented roster and manageable schedule that the Hurricanes have.

“Miami will play in the ACC title game,” Andy Staples said. “Now, remember when Miami joined the ACC — 2004? We thought that Miami-Florida State was going to be a frequent game to decide the ACC title. They put them in opposite divisions so they would end up playing in the title game. They never actually wound up playing in the title game. Now, Florida State has obviously held up its end of the bargain here. Florida State has won the ACC five times since Miami joined the league. Miami has won it zero times. They have played for the ACC title once and there was one year they could have played for it but they were ineligible for postseason play.”

A major thing that Staples loves about Miami is the team’s talented roster. It’s one that has been built through a blend of high school and transfer recruiting, with Staples highlighting linemen recruited from high school and skill players from the portal.

“So, Miami has not lived up to expectations, but if you look at this Miami roster this Miami roster is a great example of how to build through high school recruiting plus the Transfer Portal. They haven’t just gone into the portal. For the big guys, they’ve done a great job recruiting them out of high school. Like, this year, you have former five-stars Francis Mauigoa and Samson Okunlola who were 2023 signees — one’s a sophomore and one’s a redshirt freshman — they’ll be starting on your offensive line. Rueben Bain, probably Miami’s best freshman player last year. A terror coming after the quarterback. The big guys, they’ve done a great job getting those guys out of high school. We know Mario Cristobal can develop talent on the line of scrimmage,” Staples said.

“Meanwhile, they’ve also added skill players from the portal. So, obviously Cam Ward [is] the headliner there, from Washington State. The quarterback comes into Shannon Dawson‘s offense. He has played in the Air Raid his whole career. So, Shannon Dawson and he speak the same language. It should be a fairly easy transition for him. Damien Martinez comes from Oregon State, one of the best backs in the country last year. You add a Xavier Restrepo at wide receiver, who you’ve had, there are options. Miami should be able to score. Defensively you bring in a guy like Mishael Powell… Michael Powell started for Washington in the national title game last year. That guy is going to be able to provide leadership.”

On top of having a talented roster, Miami also has a very manageable schedule. Tough games like Louisville and Florida State do exist on it, but overall it’s very manageable and should set the Hurricanes up for success.

“So, Miami has the roster. They also have the schedule. If you look at the schedule… this team should go 10-2. Like, if this team doesn’t go 10-2, something’s wrong. So, they start off at Florida, tough environment, we don’t know how good Florida is gonna be. They don’t have to win that game for this prediction to come true, though. This prediction is they’re going to play for the ACC title. They’re going to be favored in every one of those games, except Florida State. Maybe at Louisville. Maybe they wouldn’t be favored there if Louisville starts off great. They’re going to be favored in most of those games, though. Miami should make the ACC title game. Miami should be flirting with double-digit wins this regular season. Miami should be flirting with a Playoff appearance or making the Playoff.”

There is a problem for Miami that has Andy Staples at least somewhat concerned about this prediction. Mario Cristobal has had talented teams before that haven’t lived up to expectations. It’s a problem that needs to be addressed to go to the ACC Championship Game.

“If they don’t, that is a problem and that is the deal with Mario Cristobal. We saw it at Oregon too. He builds the roster up. The team looks ready to do something special and it doesn’t necessarily follow through on that. Now, we saw moments. He went to Ohio State and beat them when he was at Oregon. They won the Pac-12. But they were never competitive for national titles. They should have been. The roster they’re building at Miami should be competitive, not just with the best in the ACC, but with everybody.”

“But we’ve got to see it. We’ve got to see improvement in the game management. When you’ve got to take a knee, take a knee.”