March Madness CaneSport Style: Round 1, Games 25-28

March Madness CaneSport Style: Round 1, Games 1-4

March Madness CaneSport Style: Round 1, Games 5-8

March Madness CaneSport Style: Round 1, Games 9-12

March Madness CaneSport Style: Round 1, Games 13-16

March Madness CaneSport Style: Round 1, Games 17-20

March Madness CaneSport Style: Round 1, Games 21-24

Who says there is not gonna be March Madness?

We can't let the coronavirus take away March Madness.

So CaneSport has created its own tournament.

Miami Hurricane style.

Welcome to Round 1 with a field of 64 contenders aiming to be the national champion of Hurricane lore.

Over the the next couple weeks, we will eliminate the pretenders down to the Round of 32, the Sweet 16, the Elite 8, the Final Four and then the championship.

The subscribers at CaneSport.com will have the voting power on the message boards of CaneSport.com.

Who or what will emerge as the greatest Cane of all.

The coming days will provide the answer.

We will introduce four new games each day for the next eight days.

So get your votes in in the threads in the War Room message board and may the winners advance

Then we will move onward to the next round until we crown a champion.

THE CASE FOR HILL: "Thrill Hill" played at UM from 1987-90 and as a true freshman on the 1987 National Championship team he set a then school record for kickoff return yardage with 497 yards on 19 returns. He also had that memorable 1989 third-and-43 conversion against No. 1 Notre Dame (a 27-10 Cane win) ... UM won a national title that season. He had 1,169 KOR yards on 54 returns in his time at UM and had 107 career receptions for 1,643 yards with 11 TDs. In his final two seasons he had his biggest outputs - 42 catches for 652 yards and four scores in 1989, and 44 receptions for 653 yards san dthree TDs in 1990. He was a first round draft pick by the Dolphins (23rd overall) and played 7 seasons in the NFL, catching 262 passes for 3,849 yards and 14 touchdowns.

THE CASE FOR THOMAS: Thomas because one of the most accomplished Hurricane receivers of all-time, with the "Torretta to Thomas" combination feared by defenses. As a redshirt freshman in 1989 he saw limited action and caught 15 passes for 205 yards and his first Hurricane touchdown, a 7-yard reception against rival Florida State. In 1990 Thomas caught 43 passes for 742 yards and six TDs. As a junior he earned consensus First Team All-Big East honor when he had 39 catches for 623 yards and six TDs (he had 5 catches for 73 yards in Miami's 22-0 Orange Bowl Classic victory over Nebraska for the 1991 National Championship). In 1992 Thomas tied Horace Copeland with 47 catches for 701 yards and a team leading 10 TDs. He was named a consensus All-Big East First Team member for the second consecutive year. At the time he left he was UM's leader in career receptions (144) and receiving yards (2,271). He also had a streak of 33 consecutive games with a reception. Thomas was taken in the 3rd round of the 1993 NFL Draft (60th overall) by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and spent eight seasons in the league - he had 1,558 career yards in the pros with 10 TDs.

VOTE HERE

THE CASE FOR MOSS: This category is for "more impactful kick returner." With that in mind, Moss (who played at UM from 1997-2000) is considered one of the most explosive and exciting players in UM history with game-breaking speed. While at UM he set the career record for all-purpose yards (4,402 yards), punt return yards (1,196) and career punts returned for touchdowns (6). He set an NCAA record in 2000 with 4 punt returns for touchdowns. That year he also set the school single season record for punt return yards (655). He led Miami in receptions and receiving yards in 1999 (54 for 899 yards), and in receptions in 2000 (45), and finished his career with 2,546 receiving yards. Moss was named the 2000 Big East Offensive and Special Teams Players of the Year, the only player in league history to win both awards. He was named First team All Big East in 1999 and 2000 (unanimous choice), and 2nd team in 1998. In 1999, he was named a Biletnikoff Award semi-finalist and in his senior season he finished 7th in the Heisman Trophy balloting. He was drafted in the 1st round (16th overall) of the 2001 NFL draft by the New York Jets and played 14 years in the league. In that time he amassed 10,283 receiving yards with 66 TDs, also returning three punts for scores.

THE CASE FOR HESTER: Hester was one of the most electrifying and explosive all-purpose players in UM history, and during his 2003-05 Cane career he played offense, defense and special teams. His freshman year he took the opening kickoff vs. UF and went 97 yards for a TD - he had 517 kickoff return yards that season, third-most in school history. In 2004 he tied the school record with four return touchdowns (three punts and one kickoff). Playing cornerback on defense, he led the team in interceptions (4) and sacks (4). Hester was named a 2004 All-American by the Football Writers Association, Walter Camp Foundation and The Sporting News, as well as first team All-ACC as a kick returner. In 2005 teams consistently kicked away from him (312 punt return yards, 1 TD; seven kickoff returns, 16.1 average). Selected by the Chicago Bears in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft, Hester became one of the greatest return specialists in NFL history. He set records for most punt returns for touchdowns (14), and total special teams touchdowns (20 – 5 kickoffs, 14 punts, 1 missed field goal). He was a four-time Pro Bowler in his 11 pro seasons.

VOTE HERE

THE CASE FOR HUERTA: Huerta began his Cane career as a walkon ... and ended as a first team All-Big East selection and the starting kicker on Miami's 1991 National Championship team. Not too shabby. He established an NCAA record with his 157 consecutive point after attempts during his career as a four-year starter (1988-91) and ranked second on the NCAA's all-time scoring list with 397 career points, including 73 field goals (second in UM history to Michael Badgley). His foot was a significant reason in historic victories, such as hitting a field goal with 43 seconds remaining to give UM the 31-30 edge over the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor in 1988. Huerta also hit game-winning field goals over Arkansas in 1988 and Michigan State in 1989. In 1991 he was chosen as an All-American, and for his career Huerta made 73 of 91 field goals (80.2 percent) and 178 of 181 extra points (98.3 percent). Huerta had a brief stint in the NFL in 1996, hitting four of seven field goal attempts.

THE CASE FOR BADGLEY: During Badgley's 2014-17 Miami Hurricanes career he was a 2015 and 2016 All-ACC third team pick and a 2017 All-ACC first team selection. As a senior he was named a Lou Groza Award semifinalist and becamse UM's all-time field goal leader with 77 (Carlos Huerta held the previous record with 73). For his career he hit on 77 on 97 field goal attempts (79.4 percent) and 172 of 179 extra points (96.1 percent). He had a game-winning field goal with four seconds left against Georgia Tech in 2017 and in 2015 his 28-yarder in overtime beat Nebraska (it was his fifth made field goal of the game). Badgley currently plays for the Chargers, and in two years in the pros he has hit on 28 of 32 field goals (87.5 percent) with a long of 59 yards.

VOTE HERE

THE CASE FOR KENNY CALHOUN DEFLECTS PASS TO WIN MIAMI'S FIRST NATIONAL TITLE: Perhaps no play is more ingrained in Cane lore than Kenny Calhoun's deflection of a two-point conversion try by Nebraska that gave the Hurricanes their first national title in 1984, 31-30. Miami entered that Orange Bowl Classic game a major underdog, and with 48 seconds remaining the Huskers scored a TD to pull within one point. Instead of tying the game with an extra point, Nebraska went for two. QB Turner Gill rolled out and threw for Jeff Smith in the end zone. But Calhoun got a hand in and deflected the pass to give The U its first taste of national glory.

THE CASE FOR MATT WALTERS DEFLECTS PASS INTERCEPTED BY ED REED VS. BC TO SAVE MIAMI'S 2001 NATIONAL TITLE RUN: The Canes were in trouble. A 2001 team that was arguably the most talented NFL-lade roster in college history was ahead, 12-7, with under a minute left. But, with UM playing on the road, Boston College had driven from its own 30 to a first and goal at the Miami nine-yard line. That's when a quick throw from QB Brian St. Pierre to the left sideline went past a diving receiver and into the arms of DE Matt Walters. He rumbled up the right side, giving the ball up to Ed Reed as he was getting tackled. Reed did the rest, racing 80 yards into the end zone. Miami had survived, winning 18-7, on its way to a perfect season.

VOTE HERE