The University of Miami athletic department has suffered its share of bad news recently.
The seemingly never-ending NCAA investigation. A worrisome connection involving performance-enhancing drugs and the Hurricanes’ baseball team. A public tiff between a respected local high school coach and the university’s football team.
But UM fans finally have something to cheer about.
The men’s basketball team continued its surprising surge up the Associated Press Top 25 rankings Monday, advancing to No. 3 behind Indiana and Duke. It’s the highest ranking in program history.
That’s not all. UM (19-3, 10-0 ACC) also received 17 first-place votes out of 65 in the Associated Press poll.
The last time a voter thought UM was No. 1? March 1, 1960.
Miami also shot up in the USA Today coaches’ rankings, going from No. 11 to No. 4 and earning five first-place votes from a total of 31.
“It’s a great diversion from all of the problems we’ve had,” said John Routh, director of UM’s Sports Hall of Fame and the school’s former Sebastian the Ibis mascot. “It’s because of the adversity that we’ve had lately that makes it really nice to have something really fantastic happen. It’s a great story. Everybody’s happy.”
Everybody except for the Hurricanes’ opponents. Heading into Wednesday’s game against Florida State in Tallahassee, UM has won 11 consecutive games and has yet to lose in 2013. Miami has a two-game lead in the ACC standings and has gone from unranked to No. 25 to No. 14 to No. 8 to No. 3 in five weeks.
If anything, the Hurricanes might be under-ranked. Duke is No. 2 in the AP poll and received 20 first-place votes even though the Blue Devils were routed by Miami 90-63 at the BankUnited Center on Jan. 23.
“If the polls were legit, we should be ranked ahead of them,” said 6-foot-10, 292-pound senior center Reggie Johnson.
UM and Duke will meet again at Cameron Indoor Stadium on March 2.
The Hurricanes’ ascension in the rankings has come as big surprise, and not just to fans around the country.
Johnson played for UM in 2009-10 when the Hurricanes finished last in the ACC with a 4-12 conference record. Until last season, UM had never finished with a winning record in ACC play.
“I never thought Miami could be a Top 10 program,” Johnson said. “I thought we were a good team coming into this year and could take down some of the big dogs that are always in the Top 10 … but I didn’t think we would be right here in February.”
“It’s kind of a surreal feeling,” sixth-year senior Julian Gamble said of going from conference doormat to national bully.
Standout guard Durand Scott is a four-year starter, but it’s only recently that he’s drawn recognition around campus.
“I don’t have to wear a UM shirt for people to know who I am,” Scott said.
Scott and his teammates are coming off a dominating 87-61 home win against North Carolina on Saturday. Coupled with their thumping of Duke in January, the Hurricanes became the first team to beat the Blue Devils and Tar Heels by more than 25 points in the same season.
The North Carolina win marked UM’s fourth consecutive victory at the BankUnited Center by at least 22 points.
Starting with FSU on Wednesday, the Hurricanes will play three of their next four games on the road. UM has posted a 5-0 record in ACC road games.
Both FSU and Clemson, who the Hurricanes play Sunday, have struggled. The Seminoles (13-10, 5-5) are coming off a 25-point loss to Wake Forest, while Clemson (12-11, 4-7) has lost five of its past seven games.
The No. 3 ranking is the highest in Jim Larranaga’s career as a head coach. While an assistant at Virginia, he was part of a Ralph Sampson-led team that spent much of the early 1980s ranked No. 1.
What did Larranaga learn?
“The thing that stands out is that you’re going to get everybody’s best shot,” Larranaga said. “You’re not going to sneak up on anybody.”
Larranaga said his message to the team is simple: play hard and have fun.
“These are times you really need to enjoy,” Larranaga said.
Fans are doing just that.
“It’s just amazing that this has all come together,” Routh said. “It’s kind of hard to believe that we might win an ACC basketball championship before we win an ACC football championship.”
