When the discussion comes up about the greatest college football team of all time, some college football fans will say it was the 2001 Miami Hurricanes team. I see it differently. Here’s why.
If you ask proponents why, you will invariably hear, “Look at all those players who went on to play in the NF….” Stop right there!
How does that relate to how the 2001 Hurricanes performed on the field? It doesn’t! You judge a team based on its performance that year, period. Using that same argument, if some Little League team had Mike Trout and Bryce Harper on it, then that team had to be the greatest Little League team ever. Now, let’s consider the reverse argument. Future NFL player Willis McGahee rushed for only 314 yards for the Hurricanes, and solid NFL tight end Kellen Winslow caught only two passes in 2001. They were non-factors on that 2001 Miami squad.
Brady at UM (photo courtesy Land-Grant, Holy Land)
But suppose you still believe that the 2001 Hurricanes are the most incredible college football team ever because of what their players did in the NFL. In that case, it also makes sense that Tom Brady, arguably the NFL’s GOAT, was the most outstanding college quarterback ever, and his 1997 Michigan Wolverines were the greatest college football team ever. But the actual story is this: Brady played behind Brian Griese that year, and Michigan shared the national championship with the Colorado Buffalos.
So, let’s look at Miami’s performance on the field that year–again through the lens of “the best ever.” A best-ever team doesn’t struggle against competition, but the 2001 team did … twice. The Hurricanes slipped by 14th-ranked Virginia Tech 26-24 in the season finale, with Ed Reed making a game-saving interception, erasing Virginia Tech’s last threat.
They also had a tough time with unranked Boston College, winning 18-7 in the season’s eighth game, in a much closer game than the final score indicated, even though BC played that day without William Green, the nation’s leading rusher at the time. The Hurricanes’ defense (not its offense) sealed the game. With Miami clinging to a 12-7 lead in the game’s final minute, BC drove to Miami’s nine-yard line. That’s when U defensive tackle Matt Walters intercepted a pass from BC quarterback Brian St. Pierre’s pass. Reed grabbed the ball from his teammate and ran it back for Miami’s only touchdown with only 13 seconds left.
Conversely, #4 Nebraska was the highest-ranked team Miami faced in 2001. On January 3, 2002, the U won 37-14 in the Rose Bowl, capping off an undefeated year and grabbing the consensus national championship.
Bottom line? I agree that the 2001 Miami Hurricanes were a great team. But by no means were they the best college football team ever.
The NFL and most college fans would disagree with such a ridiculous argument. It really is stupid. 8 All Americans. And how else does one compare different teams from different eras if it wasn’t for success at the next level? Not only All Americans but how well did they do at the next level. We’re talking about ALL TIME Greats. No team comes close.