Miami has put together five national championship teams, and many of those title squads are considered some of the best of all time in college football. But other teams came mighty close to winning a championship for the University of Miami.

We took a poll in our premium message board Canes Talk, to determine which team was the best not to win a title.

The '88 team was sandwiched between two championship teams (1987 and 1989), and many feel that they should have won the national championship to complete a three-peat. It was the fifth and last year for legendary head coach Jimmy Johnson and was arguably his best team.

The Hurricanes felt disrespected coming off its 1987 championship ranking no. 6 in the preseason rankings. Miami started its '88 campaign with a dominant 31-0 win over top-ranked Florida State and followed that victory with an impressive 31-30 win over no. 15 Michigan in "The Big House" in front of 105,834 fans.

This season will be remembered for the epic game known as the "Catholics vs. Convicts" matchup against Notre Dame. Miami came into South Bend as the number one team in the nation, and the Irish were ranked fourth. The highly contested game ultimately came down to two critical plays. With Miami trailing 31–24, quarterback Steve Walsh connected with running back Cleveland Gary, who reached the ball over the goal line, but it was called a fumble once the football hit the ground.

Notre Dame would recover the football on that drive. Miami would score a touchdown late, but rather than go for the tie (no overtime in those days), Johnson elected to go for the two-point conversion and the win. On the attempt, Walsh's pass was batted down.

It was the only blemish on Miami's record that year and its first loss since September 7, 1985. Miami would outscore the rest of their opponents 248-52.

The Hurricanes finished the season with a 23-3 victory over Nebraska in the Orange Bowl and as the no. 2 team in the AP poll behind the Irish.

This is a year that the college football playoff should have been in place for Miami. The Hurricanes suffered an early 34-29 loss at no. 15 Washington in Miami's second game of the season, but ran the table from that point forward.

That year, the Hurricanes defeated Florida State 27-24 in the epic "wide right III" game. Still, the BCS computer model chose the Seminoles to play in the national championship against Oklahoma, and the Sooners would win the title that year. Miami would finish 11-1 and no. 2 in the final AP poll. Miami punctuated its season with an emphatic 37-20 win over rival Florida.

It was Butch Davis's last year as head coach for the Hurricanes, but the controversy would fuel the following year's team to become the most outstanding college football team ever.

The 2002 team arguably brings the most pain to Hurricanes fans. Many consider this a championship year despite what the record books say.

After winning the national championship in 2001, Miami was looking to become the first team to win back-to-back national titles since Nebraska in 1994 and 1995.

The positives of this season will be the legendary 28-27 win over Florida State (Wide left) and the monster six touchdown 205 rushing yard performance from running back Willis McGahee in the season-finale versus Virginia Tech.

The championship game against Ohio State will likely become the most painful game in Miami Hurricanes history. McGahee suffered a gruesome injury in the game, and Miami battled to send the game to overtime. In the first overtime, Kellen Winslow scored for Miami and needed one stop to win its sixth national title.

Miami got the stop as Ohio State failed to connect on a pass in the end zone. Unfortunately, a flag was thrown for pass interference; Ohio State would score on the possession, and Miami could not match the score on its next possession.

The Hurricanes finished no. 2 in the AP poll.

In head coach Jimmy Johnson's 3rd season as head coach, the Hurricanes steamrolled teams en route to a no. 1 vs. no. 2 matchup against Penn State. The Hurricanes outscored their opponents 420-136, including a 28-16 win over Oklahoma, the defending national champions. It was Miami's first undefeated regular season in program history.

The team was considered the most hated in college football and further infused that rhetoric when arriving in Arizona for the Fiesta Bowl in army fatigues. Heisman-winning quarterback Vinny Testaverde threw five interceptions, and the Hurricanes fell 14-10 to the Nittany Lions, finishing the season at 11-1.

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