{"id":446074,"date":"2026-02-03T06:46:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T06:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/446074\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T06:46:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T06:46:08","slug":"josh-pate-lists-miami-6-on-his-early-top-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/446074\/","title":{"rendered":"Josh Pate Lists Miami #6 on his Early Top 25"},"content":{"rendered":"

Josh Pate released his Early Top 25 rankings and placed the Canes just outside the Top 5. His list, and explanation for each ranking, is below.#25 Washington\u200bI\u2019ll start at the bottom. Washington at 25. I honestly don\u2019t know what the dynamic is up there right now. I haven\u2019t talked to Demond Williams ever, let alone since he tried to leave, found out the door was locked, and then said, \u201cNever mind, I\u2019m staying.\u201d I have no idea what that does to a locker room. I just don\u2019t. So I\u2019m cautious. That\u2019s why they\u2019re here.#24 Louisville\u200bLouisville at 24 feels like one of the safest bets in the country. Jeff Brohm has those guys floating in this range almost every year. They\u2019re solid, they\u2019re organized, and the floor doesn\u2019t feel much lower than this.#23 Vanderbilt\u200bVanderbilt at 23. A lot of newness. Is Jared Curtis starting as a true freshman? Maybe. But they\u2019ve earned the right to be talked about here\u2014although let\u2019s be honest, it\u2019s February. What has anyone truly earned yet?#22 Iowa\u200bIowa at 22. Solid bowl game, which technically matters none in this exercise, but still. These are proven commodities. Teams where the floor feels pretty firm.#21 Missouri\u200bMissouri at 21. Another program that\u2019s just kind of there every year. Reliable, competitive, not flashy, but not falling apart either.#20 SMU\u200bSMU at 20. I\u2019m buying a little more SMU stock than the public right now. That could change, but in February, I like what I see.#19 Utah\u200bUtah at 19. Same story as always\u2014tough, physical, disciplined. They usually find a way to matter.#18 Houston\u200bHouston at 18. I hinted at this the other night\u2014I\u2019m kind of feeling Houston right now. I\u2019ve got eight months to change my mind, but today? I like them.#17 Michigan\u200bMichigan at 17. Transition period, but still Michigan. There\u2019s enough institutional stability to keep them in this range.#16 Ole Miss\u200bOle Miss at 16, with a massive asterisk. Nobody knows what\u2019s happening with Trinidad Chambliss. He could be quarterbacking Ole Miss. He could be working for this show next year. If he\u2019s there, they\u2019re probably higher than 16. If not, this feels about right.#15 Penn State\u200bThis one\u2019s going to make people mad. Penn State at 15. I\u2019m banking on stability. I like the coaching staff they brought in. They imported dependable parts of the Iowa State roster and recruiting classes. I\u2019m projecting a higher floor here. If you\u2019re yelling overrated, that\u2019s fine\u2014I didn\u2019t put them top five. I put them 15th. Name me 15 teams that clearly deserve to start higher in February.#14 BYU\u200bBYU at 14. Over the last five seasons, they\u2019ve got the eighth-best winning percentage in the country. Sitake is back. Bachmeier is back. They\u2019re proven, and they\u2019re still hungry because in some people\u2019s minds, if you haven\u2019t won a national title, you haven\u2019t won anything.#13 Alabama\u200bAlabama at 13. This feels weird to say, but it can\u2019t get worse. They made the playoff last year while being terrible at running the ball. They\u2019re changing offensive line staff, reshaping the run game, and I like their quarterback situation whether it\u2019s Keelan Russell or Austin Mack. There\u2019s upside here, but I don\u2019t trust it fully out of the gate.#12 Texas Tech\u200bTexas Tech at 12. Top-five portal team. Brendan Sorsby in. This doesn\u2019t feel like a one-year flash. This feels like program stability. I will never doubt their portal execution again after last year.#11 USC\u200bYes, USC at 11. This is a faith ranking. Lincoln Riley had his \u201cwe\u2019re changing everything\u201d moment, and it started to work. The defense improved. Gary Patterson is now the defensive coordinator. They\u2019ve got a third-year quarterback and the number-one recruiting class. I\u2019m not saying we look smart yet\u2014but I think we stop looking stupid.#10 LSU\u200bLSU at 10, even though the ceiling is way higher. Blake Baker stayed. The coordinator situation is strong. Number-two portal class. I think they peak late, not early, so this is where they start for me.#9 Oklahoma\u200bOklahoma at 9. They feel like a playoff-caliber program most years. More experience, but they\u2019ve got to fix the run game. Still, this feels right.#8 Texas A&M\u200bTexas A&M at 8. Marcel Reed just has to be better in big games\u2014but even his \u201cbest\u201d last year was good enough to make the playoff. Top-five talent acquisition program. The baseline roster is there.#7 Georgia\u200bGeorgia at 7. Even when they\u2019re \u201coff,\u201d they win the SEC. Gunnar Stockton is back. Kirby Smart is still Kirby Smart. Seven might actually be low.#6 Miami\u200bMiami at 6. Darian Mensah may be an upgrade at quarterback. Mark Fletcher\u2019s back. Malachi Toney is another year older. The offensive line is replacing a lot, but with Mario Cristobal and Alex Mirabal, that\u2019s a high-floor position group. I like the defensive line and Cory Hetherman entering year two as DC.#5 Oregon\u200bOregon at 5. They felt like a year away last season\u2014and now they\u2019re here. Dante Moore is back. Better injury luck, more continuity. This is a playoff-level team.#4 Ohio State\u200bOhio State at 4. Extremely high floor. Quarterback experience, Jeremiah Smith back, NFL-level coordinators. Four might even be low.#3 Indiana\u200bIndiana at 3. I\u2019m not blindly trusting them\u2014but I kind of am. Josh Hoover fits seamlessly. Portal backfills worked. The coordinators are still together. After the last two years, I trust the DNA.#2 Texas\u200bTexas at 2. Arch Manning\u2019s finish mattered. They upgraded the running back room aggressively\u2014Raleek Brown, Hollywood Smothers. Cam Coleman and Wingo at receiver. Will Muschamp coaching defense. This is a loaded team.#1 Notre Dame\u200bNotre Dame at 1. They have everything I want in February: CJ Carr at quarterback, a complete roster, elite staffing, and hunger. They\u2019re machine-like right now. They\u2019re stacking coaches, calling guys co-DCs just to make it work. They\u2019ve been close. They\u2019re still chasing the belt. So yes\u2014Notre Dame is number one. And yes, it\u2019s February. They could be out of the top 10 by August. That\u2019s the fun of it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Josh Pate released his Early Top 25 rankings and placed the Canes just outside the Top 5. His…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":446075,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[399,398,396,397,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-446074","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-ncaa","10":"tag-ncaa-football","11":"tag-ncaafootball","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=446074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/446075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}