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Wasserman's College Football Top 10 Ranking: Where should Miami be ranked?

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Wasserman's College Football Top 10 Ranking: Where should Miami be ranked?


NEW College Football Playoff Rankings | Georgia, Ohio State, Miami, Texas, Alabama, Michigan, Oregon

It’s a new era of college football. 

When the College Football Playoff committee starts releasing rankings later this season, they aren’t going to be the end-all, be-all given the new seeding rules of the 12-team field. But the rankings are still fun and people are still going to fight over them. They still matter. 

So after every weekend, after the dust settles from the games, I’m going to unveil my updated top 10. Miami throttled Florida 41-17 in the Swamp on Saturday causing the Hurricanes to vault up the rankings after week 1.

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Let’s start with the first edition: 

1. Georgia (1-0)

We’ll get more context regarding how impressive the dismantling of Clemson was as the season progresses, but the Bulldogs had perhaps the most eye-opening win of the weekend. And they did it without running back Trevor Etienne. Though there are fair questions as to whether this team is actually as dominant as the Georgia teams from the previous three years, a deep, talented squad led by the best head coach in college football is off to a fast start. 

2. Ohio State (1-0)

If this were a preseason ranking, I’d have Ohio State No. 1. There is no question in my mind the Buckeyes possess the deepest, most talented roster in the sport. But it would be impossible to put them No. 1 right now because, well, resumes already matter. Ohio State got off to a slow start against Akron, but the Buckeyes could certainly claim the top spot in this poll if they turn out to be the team I think they can be. 

3. Texas (1-0)

The Longhorns suffered a major loss before the year when running back CJ Baxter suffered a season-ending injury. That put some pressure on Texas’ offense, but it is too good at other positions to fret too much. Quinn Ewers is out here hitting us with no-look touchdown passes, the receivers were getting open consistently and Arch Manning threw his first touchdown pass in Texas’ 52-0 win over Colorado State. Oh, and the defense pitched a shutout. We’ll find out a lot more about this Texas team this weekend in Ann Arbor.  

4. Alabama (1-0)

It was too easy to view Alabama as less dangerous because Nick Saban is no longer the head coach. But Kalen DeBoer may be one of the best offensive minds in the sport and he’s working with talent that he’s never had in his career. Alabama still looked pretty scary in its opener, beating Western Kentucky 63-0. The Crimson Tide will have plenty of opportunity to prove they are a national title contender on the field, but until then, it’s still safe to assume this team can play with anyone in the country. 

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5. Oregon (1-0)

How much can you read into a clunker? It is still shocking to look back and see the Ducks playing a four-quarter game with Idaho when they were favored by 50, but that is how the Dillon Gabriel era started. Oregon is widely-anticipated to be a major threat to Ohio State in the Big Ten, and there is just too much firepower on that offense to think the Idaho game was anything other than rust. The Ducks will be very good this year. 

6. Notre Dame (1-0)

Notre Dame went into College Station in its season-opener — arguably its toughest game on the schedule — and got the job done. The Irish didn’t just win, but they looked more explosive on offense with a problem-solver at quarterback in Riley Leonard. He keeps defenses on their toes. The offensive line, which was a concern heading into the year, showed up for the challenge. Notre Dame’s defense is nasty. This is a team that has a real chance to go undefeated and will be a mainstay in this poll all year. 

7. Penn State (1-0)

Heading into the season, I was buying the West Virginia hype. Then Penn State rolled into Morgantown and beat the breaks off the Mountaineers. Quarterback Drew Allar seemed to take a step forward and the Nittany Lions made a huge hire in offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, who has the team looking more explosive on that side of the ball in the early stages of the year. The Nittany Lions also have one of the best defensive players in the country in Abdul Carter, so this team could be built to shock some people this year.  

8. Miami (1-0)

Miami and Florida came into the weekend viewed as relative equals. Miami left Gainesville with an emphatic 41-17 win over the Gators, proving these two teams aren’t in the same weight class. Cam Ward looked like a stud, Xavier Restrepo is an emerging star at receiver and the Hurricanes controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Three other ACC teams — Clemson, Florida State and Virginia Tech — opened the season with losses, so Miami looks like the class of the conference right now. 

9. Ole Miss (1-0)

Ole Miss is going to be an interesting case study of how far going all-in on the portal can take you. Jaxson Dart, who led Ole Miss to 11 wins this season, now big-time receiver Juice Wells and running back Henry Parrish to go along with stud wideout Tre Harris. On defense, Walter Nolen and Princely Umanmielen joined the team. Ole Miss beat Furman 76-0 in the season-opener and it hopes this team will compete for an SEC title and more. 

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10. Tennessee (1-0)

Tennessee was a trail-blazer of the NIL era and it went all-in on quarterback Nico Iamaleava. But what happens if he isn’t good? Well, Tennessee doesn’t have to worry about answering that question. In just a few games, it has already become clear that he’s a stud. Iamaleava set a Tennessee record with 314 yards passing in the first half and the Vols cruised to a 69-3 win over Chattanooga. It’ll be fun to see how he performs in a big game next weekend against N.C. State.



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Miami, FL

Miami-Dade commissioner supports new idea on waste-to-energy incinerator’s location

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Miami-Dade commissioner supports new idea on waste-to-energy incinerator’s location


PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – Miami-Dade County Commissioner Jose Carlos Bermudez said he is among the Doral, Medley, Hialeah, and Hialeah Gardens residents who fear they could end up with a massive waste-to-energy incinerator in their backyards. He said he supports a new idea.

The former Doral mayor, elected to represent District 12 in 2022, said he is determined to follow the process closely. Arcadis, a consultant for the county, suggested three locations: A site in Doral, a site in Medley, and a site at Airport West in Opa-locka.

Bermudez said there is a “land swap” proposal on the table. The Miami Herald reported David Martin, of Terra Group, recommended a 65-acre lot near Okeechobee Road and Northwest 137 Avenue on Aug. 19.

“Ironically it’s on rock mining land,” Bermudez said Sunday during This Week In South Florida.

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Related document: April consultant’s report on 3 sites

Bermudez said he hopes new technological advances will help protect the environment and residents. He also said the new incinerator will be much better for the county than the old facility destroyed by a fire last year.

“It’s not great secret there were problems with the facility before the fire happened,” Bermudez said.

The fourth option Bermudez said he supports is east of the Milton E. Thompson County Park, at 1665 SW 177 Ave., and the Everglades Wildlife Management Area Conservation.

“We should consider this fourth site,” Bermudez said. “I hope my colleagues do consider it.”

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Bermudez said there needs to be more thought on how the facility will impact traffic and air quality. Miami-Dade commissioners are set to discuss the issue later this month.

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  • Miami Herald: Developer pitches new site for incinerator

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Miami has a star at QB in Cam Ward and a confident team capable of special things

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Miami has a star at QB in Cam Ward and a confident team capable of special things


GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Cam Ward was in a giving mood after the Miami Hurricanes opened their season Saturday by stomping the rival Florida Gators in The Swamp.

He offered some advice for the 90,000 fans who were screaming at the top of their lungs at him and his teammates.

“If you’re gonna be loud, be loud when we’re huddling,” Miami’s star quarterback said. “You can’t just be loud when we break the huddle. There’s no point. We heard the play and communicated already.”

The Gators didn’t lose, though, because their home crowd let them down. The 19th-ranked Hurricanes did it the old-fashioned way — by obliterating Florida on both sides of the line of scrimmage.

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Ward looked bored at times standing behind a wall of offensive linemen with enough time to sign NIL deals, sip tea and pick apart Florida’s secondary. He made one mistake early — an errant throw behind his receiver — and finished with 385 passing yards and three touchdowns while completing 26-of-35 pass attempts. He sidestepped Florida’s secondary with ease the two times he took off for long runs and was sacked only once.

Ward’s 23-yard touchdown pass to Jacolby George in the back of the end zone to make it 38-10 with six minutes left in the third quarter was his masterpiece.

“Yeah, he’s not bad,” Cristobal said of the Washington State transfer. “He’s just scratching the surface.”

The Hurricanes might be, too.

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They were nearly perfect in the much-anticipated opener. Sure, Ward’s pick wasn’t ideal. And two Miami defensive players took a bad angle on a 71-yard touchdown run by Florida’s Montrell Johnson. Oh, Andy Borregales missed a field goal. Other than that? Not much to complain about.

The Canes held Florida to 261 yards of offense and outgained the Gators by 268 yards. And that was with Rueben Bain, their best defensive player, going down with a soft-tissue injury on the first play of the game. Starting cornerback Damari Brown was also sidelined early with a similar injury.

Don’t worry, Canes fans, Cristobal said he expects both players back in a week or two. The way the Hurricanes looked on Saturday, Bain and Brown could take the next month off. Florida A&M, Ball State and South Florida are up next on the schedule.

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Miami should be 4-0 when it opens ACC play at home on Sept. 27 against Virginia Tech — a team that lost to Vanderbilt on Saturday. You probably have to glance ahead to the trip to Louisville on Oct. 19 to find a game the Hurricanes might not be favored to win.

“We’re playing Miami football now. We’re starting to look like Miami in a lot of different respects,” Cristobal said.  “No one ever really likes to talk about the starting point. These guys have been through a lot and made the decision that they’d had enough. They proved it by the way they played the game.”

At ACC media days in July, Miami was picked to finish third in the league behind defending conference champion Florida State and the Clemson Tigers. Earlier on Saturday, Dabo Swinney’s team got run off the field in the second half by Georgia in a humbling 34-3 loss in Atlanta. Florida State needs to beat Boston College on Monday to avoid an 0-2 start.

With Ward at the helm, the Hurricanes are oozing confidence.

“He’s ridiculous. He’s amazing,” said Xavier Restrepo, who led Miami with seven catches for 112 yards and one touchdown. “He has the same love that we all have for the game. So it’s easy, you know, to do something for someone that loves football as much as you do.”

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Ward, meanwhile, has no issue giving Gators and SEC fans a parting gift to chew on.

“I played at USC. USC wasn’t packed, but it was louder than this,” Ward said. “I played at Oregon. It was louder than this. Washington was one of the loudest environments I’ve played in. The Pac-12 is misspoken for. The Pac-12 is where I feel real football is played.”

(Photo of Cam Ward: James Gilbert / Getty Images)





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Your Thoughts On The Miami Dolphins 2024 Roster

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Your Thoughts On The Miami Dolphins 2024 Roster


Following the Miami Dolphins cutdown to the semi-final 53-man roster this past week, I asked:

Which player(s), if any, were you disappointed to see cut by the Dolphins today and why? Which player(s), if any, were you disappointed to see NOT cut by the Dolphins today and why?

Below are some of your answers and thoughts on the question of the day-

sdphinsfan is concerned that “nothing has changed.” I, too, am worried about the OL and hoping that we are all wrong somehow, but I know we probably are not.

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Everybody’s hurt and the starting IOL is comprised of the same depth players that were playing at the end of last season. So nothing has changed since this team last took the field in a real game. What’s that saying about doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result?

Lefty5150 is probably sad again now that McMorris has also been cut from the practice squad.

Glad they kept McMorris sad they had to cut Brooks

heatforlife wants the front office to consider a player’s past injury history more before signing a guy.

ez e and brooks looked good until injuries,cracaft alwasy looks good until he gets hurt.phillips and chubb were balling until injuries.waddles injured. obj cant play w/o getting hurt.wynn was always in ne .uh mr grier when u acquire players can u ck their injury history a little closer please

SlayerNation1 pointed out that the roster would only take its closer to final form towards the end of the week.

This roster is the rough draft that needed to be handed in to the teacher yesterday at 4:00

It will change before kickoff. We shall know of they do get it right, and very quickly, as in after 4 days of kickoff.

We’ll know a lot in 4 days. Has McD’s coaching evolved to have the team prepared for a possible shootout vs JAX, to not look ahead to a short week with BUF already breathing down their necks? Weaver’s Defense? Can they afford any injury already?

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No pressure, just imperative to be 2-0 (no significant injuries) in 4 days when you look at the last 6 weeks of the schedule.

cyberflea is miffed at decisions made.

Easy what Grier got wrong….not addressing the IOL.The OL is worse than it was last year and will be a concern throughout the season.

Dolfanjoe is another concerned with some of the injuries.

The problem here is that we do not know the extensiveness of the injuries for many players. I was very bummed seeing Brooks put out on the waiver wire ! If he is near health with just a concussion i could see another team taking a chance on him. But then again we know nothing about if it is just a concussion or he is dealing with something else. Some tough cuts and maybe more to come with pickups in the next few days. Hoping we get a talented practice squad. We need the depth!

Alpha6 wanted to see Brooks make it and Tindall sent on down the road.

Which player(s), if any, were you disappointed to see cut by the Dolphins today and why?

BROOKS/RB – played 9 games for the Dolphins in 2023, totaling 19 carries for 106 yards (5.6 avg.) only ‘cause he’s a BYU product & ‘cause he looked like a bruising back.

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Which player(s), if any, were you disappointed to see NOT cut by the Dolphins today and why?

TINDALL/LB – ‘cause this dude was suppose to be something great.

daytonadolfan is for the most part happy with how things went down.

I’m good with the cuts, Needham was a surprise but i guess he’s getting a little long in the tooth so next man up ! Not happy with so many skill players on the pup list. Feels like we are starting out short handed and who get’s cut to bring them back in?

It seems as if those of us here are inline with the majority of the Dolphins fans base. We are worried about the offensive line and the lack of depth in that unit. Thus far we have not seen the front office address it after the cuts so I guess we will see and they will live with the concequeses of decisions made or not made. Thank you again to each of you that took the time to answer our question of the day.



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