It could be a make or break year for Al Golden and the Miami Hurricanes.
After a few seasons of struggles, the Canes legitimately have a chance to win their very first ACC title in 2015, a year which appears to be wide open in the conference.
2015 SCHEDULE
9/5: vs. Bethune-Cookman
9/11: at Florida Atlantic
9/19: vs. Nebraska
10/1: at Cincinnati
10/10: at Florida State
10/17: vs. Virginia Tech
10/24: vs. Clemson
10/31: at Duke
11/7: vs. Virginia
11/14: at North Carolina
11/21: vs. Georgia Tech
11/27: at Pittsburgh
As always, the ACC Coastal Division is going to be wide open and be there for anyone's taking. Miami only has one really nasty stretch of schedule, that being when the team visits Cincinnati and Florida State within nine days of each other with home games against Nebraska and Virginia Tech sandwiching those proceedings.
SEASON WIN TOTAL
Miami's season win total is conservatively set at just five, but the vig on the over of -300 suggests that it should easily get past that point. Let's not forget that this was a bowl team last season, and even though a lot of talent did move on from the program, there's still plenty of talent here to top out around 10 wins if everything goes well.
OFFENSIVE OUTLOOK
Even though Duke Johnson graduated after last season, an injury to the All-American did open the door for the country to be introduced to Joe Yearby, a real speed burner who averaged nearly six yards per carry in his limited time in the backfield by himself.
There shouldn't be any drop off at tailback.
Under center is where things could really get interesting. Brad Kaaya threw for 3,198 yards and 26 TDs last year as a true freshman. Quarterbacks are getting younger and younger, but rarely do we ever see a true freshman come in and lead his team to a bowl game. Kaaya still has two more years at "The U" before he can jump to the NFL, and Hurricanes fans know that he is the promise to bring this team back to prominence.
DEFENSIVE OUTLOOK
There are six returners on the defensive side of the ball, but there are a whopping nine seniors who will be out there as a part of the rotation. Golden has a ton of experience at his disposal for sure, and the one thing that you know about the Hurricanes is that they are always going to be incredibly fast and flying all over the field.
Deon Bush and Dallas Crawford will really anchor this secondary at the back at the two safety positions, and Golden lets both men roam free all the time to cause havoc.
Last year, the Hurricanes did struggle just a bit at times defensively, but at the end of the year, they allowed just 333.1 yards per game and ranked No. 16 against the pass.
SEASON PREDICTION
The oddsmakers have grossly undervalued Miami this season. This is a bowl team for sure for as long as Kaaya is under center. This kid can really throw the football, and poise isn't an issue.
Sure, there are six road games on the schedule against six home games, but there really isn't a game in which the team will be a huge underdog except for that game against FSU. Even if that one is lost, these ACC Coastal Division games are all winnable.
No, Miami isn't truly going to become a national power this year, so don't waste your money at 150 to 1 on this team to win the National Championship. However, taking a flier out on the Canes at 17 to 1 to win the ACC isn't a bad call, and we certainly love that over five wins, even at the -300 vig.
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