When was Miami football's last national championship game appearance?
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The question has been asked so many times for the better part of the past two decades that it has effectively become a meme in college football circles.
Is The U back?
Miami is one of the most accomplished and undeniably influential programs in the sport over the past 50 years, with five national championships, an army of future NFL stars and an indelible cultural impact on the game.
The Hurricanes, however, have struggled since joining the ACC ahead of the 2004 season. They’ve never won a conference title, have never finished a season ranked inside the top 10 and have won at least 10 games in a season only three times. It raised looming questions about just how good Miami could be moving forward and whether their resounding success was an artifact from a different age.
This season, they’ve found their way back.
Behind a vicious pass rush and some key playmakers at skill positions, the Hurricanes are once again among college football’s elite. Coach Mario Cristobal’s team improved to 12-2 this season with a 24-14 victory against reigning national champion Ohio State on Dec. 31 in the Cotton Bowl, which tied the program record for wins in a season. On Thursday, Jan. 8, Miami will take on Ole Miss in the Fiesta Bowl, with the winner advancing to the championship game of the College Football Playoff.
It’s been a long time since the Hurricanes have been on a stage like this, but exactly how long has it been?
When was Miami’s last national championship game appearance?
If Miami pulls off a win against Ole Miss in the Fiesta Bowl, it will make its first national championship game since the 2003 BCS national championship game.
In that game, which also occurred at the Fiesta Bowl, the Hurricanes narrowly missed out on their chance at back-to-back national titles with a 31-24 overtime loss to Ohio State on Jan. 3, 2003.
Since then, the Hurricanes haven’t gotten particularly close to getting back to a national championship. Prior to this year, they hadn’t finished a season ranked in the top 10 of the major national polls since 2003 or played in a game that was part of the BCS or New Year’s Six bowl structure since 2003.
How many national championships has Miami won?
Miami has won five national championships, all of which were racked up between 1983 and 2001 as the Hurricanes became one of the most unlikely and polarizing dynasties in college football history.
It’s tied for the 11th-most among FBS programs. Here is the years in which they claim a national championship, and their accompanying bowl game results:
- 1983: Miami 31, Nebraska 30 (Orange Bowl)
- 1987: Miami 20, Oklahoma 14 (Orange Bowl)
- 1989: Miami 33, Alabama 25 (Sugar Bowl)
- 1991: Miami 22, Nebraska 0 (Orange Bowl) *
- 2001:2001: Miami 37, Nebraska 14 (Rose Bowl)
* Split national championship with Washington
Miami national championship game appearances
Miami’s national championship game appearance is its third since a standalone national championship game was introduced at the end of the 1998 season, the inaugural year of the BCS era in college football.
Beginning with its first national championship in 1983, the Hurricanes have played in eight games in which a national title was on the line for them. They’re 5-3 in those contests.
Here’s how they fared in those games:
- 1983: Miami 31, Nebraska 30 (Orange Bowl)
- 1986: Penn State 14, Miami 10 (Fiesta Bowl)
- 1987: Miami 20, Oklahoma 14 (Orange Bowl)
- 1989: Miami 33, Alabama 25 (Sugar Bowl)
- 1991: Miami 22, Nebraska 0 (Orange Bowl)
- 1992: Alabama 34, Miami 13 (Sugar Bowl)
- 2001: Miami 37, Nebraska 14 (Rose Bowl)
- 2002: Ohio State 31, Miami 24 (Fiesta Bowl)
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Miami football national championships: When did Hurricanes last appear?
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