The Miami Hurricanes displayed a lot of potential and hope during the conference tournament last year, grabbing two upset wins and getting out to an impressive first half start against Duke before eventually going down to the Blue Devils. Miami only lost two starters from last year, and have quite a few new players that look to be sound contributors for the team this year.

The key for the Canes this season is to win more match ups against ACC opponents, as they finished with an ACC-worst 4-12 record in conference play last season. While the ACC is one of the toughest conferences in college basketball, Miami has the potential to finish high enough in the league to make a trip to the NCAA tournament this season.

Miami only plays one non-ACC game versus a foe that is ranked in the preseason, and that game comes early in the schedule on Nov. 16 at 19th-ranked Memphis. The Hurricanes could definitely use a victory in this game, but the most important thing for them is to not slip up against their other non-conference opponents. The ‘Canes finished last season with a 16-1 record in non-conference play, but most of those wins came against weak teams and led to them getting beat up in conference action.

Coach Frank Haith will look to Durand Scott and Malcolm Grant to help lead his inexperienced team in an effort to improve from last year. While they may not be in contention to win the ACC this season, they should play some fairly exciting basketball, as they have some of the most athletic players in the conference.

Front Court: Julian Gamble and Reggie Johnson will be depended upon pretty heavily this season when it comes to defense and rebounding, as they look to fill the void that was left with the departure of Dewayne Collins when he left for the NBA after last year. At 6’9″ and 6’10″, respectively, the duo is tall enough to match-up favorably against most of their opponents at the five. Both players need to make more of their shots this season, however, as Johnson shot 52% from the field last season, while Gamble only made 48% on his attempts.

DeQuan Jones is an extremely explosive forward with remarkable speed and athletic ability. He is best known for his ability to finish and his dunking skills, but he will need to improve on his outside shooting this season. He shot a horrid 23% from beyond the arc last season, making only 6 of his 26 attempts from long range.

Miami has Eric Swoope and Raphael Akpejiori joining their team this season. Swoope is another highly athletic small forward that will be competing with Jones for minutes all season at the three. Akpejiori, at 6’9″, should be a strong contributor when it comes to hitting the glass, and at 230 lbs, should be a fairly sound force down low against smaller interior players.

Donnovan Kirk will also be coming back to the ‘Canes after being receiving a medical red-shirt last year when he only played in four contests. He will need to help pick up some of the slack with rebounding on both sides of the court this season.

Back Court: Miami’s success this year largely depends on their back court, which is headlined by Durand Scott and Malcolm Grant. Both players are coming off brilliant performances in the ACC tournament, and the hopes are fairly high for them this year as they will be looked upon as leaders on the court.

Scott, a very impressive guard who is extremely athletic and very good at finding open shooters, will be the floor leader for Miami. Averaging 10.3 points per game last season, and scoring in double figures in eight of their final nine contests, Scott should raise his scoring average this year. Their success will not only ride on his scoring abilities, but also on how well he distributes the ball and his effectiveness at getting his team involved.

While Grant is smaller and shorter than Scott, he plays most of his minutes at the two. Although he was tops on the team with 3.5 dimes per game last season, he will need to concentrate more on scoring this season after putting up just under 10 points per night last season. If he can be a consistent point producer this season, the ‘Canes definitely could be one of the surprise teams to over-achieve their expectations.

Rion Brown will also play a key role in the Hurricanes back court. The freshman shooting guard from Georgia is a Top 100 prospect and should be extremely productive for the Canes if he can get on the court enough this season.

Predictions: The ‘Canes have some extremely talented players on their roster, but unfortunately for them they play in a very deep conference that features last year’s national champions, the Duke Blue Devils, who they go up against twice this year.

If they can get strong contributions from all of their players, they could move up the standings a position or two. However, I can’t picture Miami being able to make a jump into the top level of the ACC and finishing ahead of any of the four teams currently ranked in the Top 25 . While Miami could potentially be a bubble team late in the year if they have an impressive run during conference play, it is unlikely they will actually land a spot in the tournament when all of the smoke settles.

For your chance to beat the NCAA basketball lines this year be sure to visit our site often for the top college basketball picks from our expert handicappers.

The 25 most hated teams in sports list was recently released.  Many I agreed with and some I did not understand why they were even on the list, then I came to the team ranked at #11 which was the 1990 University of Miami Football team. I obviously was not surprised that Miami was on the list because that is all you ever hear from people who THINK they know about college football.

Here is an excerpt of what was written about the 11th most hated team of all time in reference to their Cotton Bowl appearance.

“Seldom has a team been so undisciplined … and unstoppable. Miami had a Cotton Bowl record 132 yards in penalties. At halftime the ‘Canes finished with 202 yards in penalties, a bowl record that still stands. They also won 46-3. “If they aren’t the best,” ‘Horns coach David McWilliams said: “I don’t want to play the best.” — Austin Murphy (www.cnnsi.com )

I thought that was interesting that it seemed their entire basis for being ranked the 11th most hated team of all time was based on one game, a woodshed beating of the Texas Longhorns.

So I noted that and continued to scroll up the list wondering what teams were in the top ten. I look through the teams and I am passing the 2007 New England Patriots at the sixths spot (can’t argue with that one), the 1988-89 Detroit Pistons at the number two spot.

Then I get a look at who is picked as the MOST hated team of all time, and it is the 1986 Miami Hurricanes football team. Here is the entire passage that was written, so you can see their reasoning for ranking the Hurricanes in the top spot.

“His players were visionaries, early practitioners of an in-your-face brand of football that went out of its way to belittle and intimidate opponents. It was, in a lot of ways, the opposite of sportsmanship. It was a ‘Cane thing. To say that Jimmy Johnson (pictured, left, with Michael Irvin) gave his players free reign was an understatement.

The ’86 Hurricanes were caught up in “fights and fraud and alleged shoplifting and other unsavory shenanigans involving more than 40 players,” wrote SI ‘s Rick Reilly. “Miami may be the only squad in America that has its team picture taken from the front and from the side.”

It was also flat-out loaded, an NFL developmental squad, and not inclined toward modesty. The top-ranked ‘Canes showed up in Tempe, Ariz., for the national title game rocking military fatigues, in stark contrast to the coats and ties sported by the charges of “St. Joe ” Paterno, as Johnson dubbed his counterpart. In that famed Fiesta Bowl game, Heisman Trophy winner

Vinny Testaverde threw five picks and Miami turned the ball over seven times in a 14-10 Penn State upset that made a lot of people across the republic very, very happy.” — Austin Murphy (www.cnnsi.com)

First let’s point out the obvious Miami was the ONLY team to make this list twice, the Pistons, Yankees, and Chicago Black Sox were all on there even the 2005 USC Trojans.  None of them made this list more than once. The other constant with that list is that most of the teams on that list were very successful, or champions in their respective sports. What this says is that people don’t hate the Hurricanes just because of their Bravado; they hate the Hurricanes because they win championships with a chip on their shoulder.

If you look at the majority of the teams on that list the Pistons were known as the Bad Boys, even the Jimmy Johnson led 1992 Dallas Cowboys were on there. If you look at it all of these teams were highly successful, and people hated them because they won without being nice guys.

They went on the field and looked at the team across from them as an opponent not a group of friends who they were going to hang out with after the game.  Those Miami Hurricanes teams played football the way it should be played, with heart, emotion, and a general dislike of the team they are playing.

People always bring up all the “off the field” stories about those Miami teams, but what they do not talk about is hardly any of those players ever missed a game on Saturday because of an off field issue.  If Miami players were committing as many crimes blatantly as all the rumors say they would have surely been caught multiple times over a four year period.

The players at Miami just feed that stigma and over exaggerate all of it because they are proud that people were against them, and the succeeded despite people objections. Thinks of the genius in all of this, teams from 1986 and 1990 were so polarizing that they shaped the perception of an entire football program.

The perception remains today even though Miami has hardly had any players arrested over the past five seasons, which just proves all of the media hate is based off of personal bias more than fact.  Were those Miami teams in your face, cocky, and intense? You bet they were.

But Michael Jordan was just as bad, and if you believe the stories he was even worse and not one Chicago Bulls team made this list. Jordan is loved by millions, and he played the game of basketball much the same way as the Miami Hurricanes played football, but he gets nowhere near the same level of hate.

There was also a section talking about teams that barely missed the cut for making the top 25 most hated list, and the 2002 Ohio State Buckeyes were listed.  There were appropriately named “The Luckeyes” for that good fortune filled season they experienced which can only be described as something of a dream.  Well at least in South Florida the Gators and Buckeyes are fighting for the top spot of most hated team by Miami Hurricanes fans, maybe it will be a tie for first!