In the last 30 years of Miami football, the Hurricanes won a total of five games three times to finish the season. The first was in 1997, Butch Davis' third year as head coach with the program. The second was Randy Shannon's first year as the head man in 2007. The third is the 2022 season, the first under now head coach Mario Cristobal.

In 1998, the Hurricanes finished with a 9-3 season and ended with a 46-23 bowl win over NC State. It was a year that the Hurricanes lost to their rivals Virginia Tech (27-20 OT), Florida State (26-14), and Syracuse (66-13), but the season will always be remembered for its 49-45 win over UCLA.

The win over the Bruins is considered the turning point for a program that was reeling from NCAA probation rulings. The game was originally scheduled for the beginning of the year, but Hurricane Georges forced it to be moved to December 5th.

Miami’s Edgerrin James rushed for a school-record 299 yards and gave the Canes three touchdowns. The Hurricanes came back from a 38-21 UCLA lead to win in dramatic fashion. The win snapped a 20-game winning streak by the Bruins.

Looking back at the roster, it's elite. James, Reggie Wayne, Ed Reed, Santana Moss and Dan Morgan were the superstars of this team, but also Hurricane fan favorites, Brett Romberg, Joaquin Gonzalez, Rod Mack, Mike Rumph, Al Blades, Bubba Franks, Ty Wise, Nate Webster, and Najeh Davenport and others rounded out an impressive roster with Scott Covington was the quarterback.

It is one of the best Miami rosters to not win a championship but set the foundation for the 2001 championship team.

The 2008 campaign saw the Hurricanes improve by two games to a seven-win season. The Canes finished with a 24-17 Emerald Bowl loss to Cal that season and struggled out of the gate losing three out of its first five games to Florida (26-3), North Carolina (28-24), and Florida State (41-39).

The signature win from that season was the trip to College Station and taking it to the Texas A&M Aggies 41-23. It was a solid performance put on by Robert Marve (throwing for two touchdowns) and Graig Cooper who ran for career-high 128 yards and two scores as Miami dismantled the A&M defense.

The roster from that year put several players in the NFL: Travis Benjamin, Leonard Hankerson, Sam Shields, Matt Bosher, Sean Spence, Allen Bailey, Colin McCarthy, Brandon Harris, and DeMarcus Van Dyke.

This was certainly a rebuilding season after losing Calais Campbell and Kenny Phillips to the NFL in the previous year, but by most accounts, a seven-win season in any year at the University of Miami is considered below average.

Miami's current roster has plenty of potential NFL players: Kamren Kinchens, James Williams, Francisco Mauigoa, Akheem Mesidor, Leonard Taylor, Davonte Brown, Javion Cohen, Matt Lee, Francis Mauigoa, and others.

There is plenty of opportunities for Miami to get that signature memorable win this season with games against Texas A&M, Clemson, North Carolina, and Florida State. Miami perhaps has the best quarterback compared to the other two years in Tyler Van Dyke - advantage 2023.

Both the overall offensive and defensive talent of 1998 are superior to 2023 by a mile but many would be led to believe that this season's team could defeat the 2008 squad. Results will be the true indicator of course, but as of now a win total above nine or less than seven would be a huge surprise.

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