Although the No. 10 Miami Hurricanes are underdogs entering Monday’s College Football Playoff National Championship Game against the No. 1 Indiana Hoosiers, Canes quarterback Carson Beck doesn’t feel they are a “Cinderella” story.

According to Dan Wolken of Yahoo Sports, Beck said, “There was a time in the season we were ranked No. 2 in the country. A lot of people forget that.”

With a 10-2 regular-season record, the Hurricanes were one of the last teams in the CFP field, but they have proved they belong by beating No. 7 Texas A&M, No. 2 Ohio State and No. 6 Ole Miss en route to the title game.

Beck transferred to Miami this past offseason after spending five seasons at Georgia, and he explained what went into that decision during media availability on Saturday:

While Beck noted that he “always wanted” to be Georgia’s starting quarterback, an elbow injury suffered late last season coupled with his decision to stay in school rather than entering the NFL draft forced him to explore other options.

The decision to transfer to Miami has paid huge dividends for both Beck and the school, as the Hurricanes are set to vie for their first national championship since 2001.

Miami got off to a 5-0 start this season with wins over Notre Dame, South Florida and Florida State, all of whom were ranked at the time the Hurricanes beat them.

The Canes lost two of their next three games to Louisville and SMU, though, which called into question whether they still had a legitimate chance to make the CFP.

Entering the final CFP selection, Miami was behind Notre Dame in the rankings despite beating the Fighting Irish, and the committee made the somewhat controversial decision to flip the two teams.

Putting Miami in the field has clearly proved to be the right call, as the Hurricanes beat three of the best teams in the country consecutively to reach the title game.

Beck didn’t have to do a ton in Miami’s first two playoff wins, throwing for 103 yards in a 10-3 victory over Texas A&M and 138 yards in a win against Ohio State, but he was a key contributor in the semifinals.

The veteran signal-caller helped the Hurricanes out-duel a high-powered Ole Miss offense, throwing for 268 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for the game-winning score with 18 seconds remaining.

Indiana is understandably favored given that it is the only undefeated team in FBS this season, it boasts a highly regarded head coach in Curt Cignetti and it has the Heisman Trophy winner in quarterback Fernando Mendoza.

For much of the history of college football, Indiana would have been considered a Cinderella team against a longtime power like Miami, but the roles have clearly reversed.

The Hoosiers have steamrolled past almost every opponent they have faced, but Miami is a supremely talented team that has been considered to be among college football’s elites at various points this season, as pointed out by Beck.

Miami is playing its best football at the ideal time, and Beck will have to be at his best as well in order to take down Mendoza, Cignetti and the Hoosiers on Monday night.