Miami Hurricanes basketball crack AP Top 25 poll for first time in four years

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The Miami Hurricanes have entered the AP Top 25 poll at No. 25 following their sixth straight victory.

Miami (10-1, 2-0 ACC) won both of its games last week with a 107-105 victory over Cornell and an 80-73 win over NC State for their sixth consecutive win. They were 28th last week with 29 votes and have 100 votes this week.

It is the first time the Hurricanes have been in the AP Top 25 since entering the 2018 NCAA Tournament at No. 22.

Miami hosts St. Francis PA (3-8) on Saturday in their lone game this week.

A showdown with No. 2 Virginia (8-0, 1-0) looms in Coral Gables on Dec. 20. It will be the first game Miami has faced against a ranked team entering the game. Miami lost to previously-ranked Maryland, now No. 20, 88-70 on Nov. 20.

“Our students and our fanbase have been great and I think it will grow, I expect it to grow,” head coach Jim Larranaga said. “We have some big games coming up. We’ve got Virginia, who is the No. 3-ranked team in the country coming in here. On the 20th of December hopefully the word will get out that, ‘Hey we need to support the Hurricanes basketball program.”

It is the first time anyone on the Hurricanes roster has been a part of a ranked team.

“I would love to be ranked,” said senior forward Jordan Miller, who played his first three years at George Mason, following the win over NC State. “I’ve been in college for five years and I haven’t been ranked so I want to be, but it’s not something that we focus on or really want because just as quickly as you get ranked, you can get unranked too. So we’re not necessarily focused on that. Would it be rewarding for all of our hard work? Yes, but we have bigger goals than just being ranked.”

Miami and Virginia are two of the four ACC teams ranked in the Top 25. Duke (10-2, 1-0) is No. 12 and Virginia Tech (10-1, 1-0) is No. 24.

Christopher Stock has covered the Miami Hurricanes since 2003 and can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] and on Twitter @InsideTheU