ESPN analyst says Miami disrespected at No. 7 in AP Top 25
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Miami checked in at No. 7 in the preseason AP Top 25, released Monday. One ESPN analyst says the Hurricanes are too low.
On Tuesday’s First Take, Chris Canty called out AP voters for not ranking the Canes higher.
“But for me, when it looks at the list, there’s a lot of shade being thrown toward the U,” Canty said. “The Miami Hurricanes were just in the national championship game and they got Darian Mensah in the transfer portal. And as a Virginia alum, I can tell you from first-hand experience with the Darian Mensah experience, that this guy is a baller, 3,900-yard passer. And then when you look at the touchdown scores for the U, you’ve got Malachi Tony, who’s the best player in college football that nobody is talking about.
“And then you have a bowling ball of knives and running back, Mark Fletcher, who only had 1,300 yards from scrimmage and 14 touchdowns. Combined between Malachi Tony and Mark Fletcher, you have 2,600 yards from scrimmage and 25 total touchdowns from a season ago. I get that it’s blasphemous to talk about anybody else other than the team in Columbus or the team in Austin, Texas, winning the national championship. But for my money, the best triplets in college football reside in South Florida with the Miami Hurricanes.”
While the Miami roster is stacked with talent at key positions, UM is also replacing some big names from the 2025 roster that carried the Canes to the College Football Playoff National Championship. Canty, though, believes Miami will be fine.
“Now, I understand the Hurricanes lost a ton of talent. Francis Mauigoa, a first-round pick. Akheem Mesidor, Ruben Bain, first-round. You had three first-round draft picks in the trenches. So that is a lot to replace.
“But if there’s any coach in college football that’s capable of doing it, it’s Mario Cristobal, who’s a former offensive lineman at the U and an offensive line coach by trade. This guy understands how to win when it comes to big boy football. So I think Miami is really being disrespected by being seventh in the preseason.”
No. 7 Miami opens the 2026 season on the road, playing at Stanford on Sept. 4. Time will tell if the Canes are able to climb in the rankings.
"Miami is really being disrespected by being 7th in the preseason poll." @ChrisCanty99 shares his thoughts on why he thinks Miami should be higher on the preseason poll 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/9lcOMtztqH
— First Take (@FirstTake) August 18, 2026
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaign of Fred Taylor.
