CANES CRAZY

Where Does Miami vs. Ohio State Rank (Win Or Lose) In Miami Hurricanes History?

—

by

Canes Crazy
in
This is a big one, but how big?

Miami draws Ohio State in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Eve. That alone puts the matchup in rare company for this program, and the opponent drags a long shadow behind it.

Context pushes this game higher than a typical postseason date. Ohio State handed Miami one of its most painful nights in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl national title game, a double-overtime classic that turned on a late defensive pass interference flag that still fuels arguments two decades later. This bracket offers Miami a chance to answer that memory with something that counts.

So where does this Cotton Bowl rank among the most important games in Miami Hurricanes football history?

A Miami win wouldn’t just earn a trophy and a semifinal berth; it would signal a full return to the sport’s center after years of living off nostalgia. A loss would hurt, but the mere presence in this game already changes how recruits, boosters and TV windows talk about the program.

Here’s the quick “games that outrank it” list, built around stakes, legacy and program direction:

  1. 1984 Orange Bowl vs. Nebraska (31-30) — Miami’s first national title and the night the sport learned to fear The U.
  2. 1992 Orange Bowl vs. Nebraska (22-0) — a national title shutout that stamped dominance.
  3. 1987 Fiesta Bowl vs. Penn State (14-10 loss) — an undefeated Miami team played for the championship and watched it slip away.
  4. 2003 Fiesta Bowl vs. Ohio State (31-24, 2OT loss) — a dynasty-era gut punch that still shapes the Miami-Ohio State emotion going into this year.
  5. 1993 Sugar Bowl vs. Alabama (34-13 loss) — a title shot ended hard, and Miami’s early-’90s aura took a hit.
  6. Wide Right I at Florida State (17-16) — a rivalry hinge that protected Miami’s championship path in 1991.
  7. “Catholics vs. Convicts” at Notre Dame (31-30 loss) — a national culture-war game that shaped Miami’s identity as much as any win.
  8. Wide Right III vs. Florida State (27-24 win, 2000) — another razor-thin rivalry classic that kept Miami’s rise rolling into the early-2000s peak.

No. 9: Miami vs. Ohio State, CFP quarterfinal, Dec. 31, 2025.

If Miami wins, it won’t stay No. 9 for long.

Comments