Greg McElroy: Miami should be in national championship contention this season

After narrowly missing the College Football Playoff last season, Miami is determined to get over the hump this fall and advance deep into the postseason. On Thursday, ESPN’s Greg McElroy weighed in on Miami’s chances of making a run in the CFP in the 2025 campaign.

“Miami can make the playoff, but can they win the national championship? I am a believer,” McElroy said. “I look at where this team has gone the last couple of years, where they’ve progressed the last couple of years, and I happen to think this could be maybe the best year in Mario Cristobal‘s tenure.

“A lot of people wondering about Carson Beck, but I remember calling Carson Beck’s first game last year against Clemson, and he was, at that time, the Heisman frontrunner. He was, at that time, one of the faces of college football. And he was likely to be, if he were to have left the year before to become an NFL draft pick, he would have been in the top five in the NFL Draft.“

Beck transferred to Miami this offseason after spending four years at Georgia, including two as the team’s starter. Beck was widely considered one of the best returning quarterbacks in the country in 2024 after posting outstanding statistics in his debut campaign as the Bulldogs’ QB1.

Alas, Beck had a down season last year, recording fewer passing yards than he had in 2023, while throwing twice as many interceptions. Nonetheless, McElroy hasn’t forgotten what Beck is capable of, and he believes the Hurricanes’ QB will be well-protected this year.

“The strength of Miami’s team will always be along the offensive and defensive lines,” McElroy said. “Mario Cristobal has talked about this over and over and over again. He believes that the strength of the team will always be found in the trenches. It’s fundamental to his belief system.

“They’re going to be deep. They’re going to be talented along the offensive line. They have outstanding pieces at tackle. They fortify the interior, and then on the defensive side, man, they are really, really solid with a couple of the big time, big time playmakers.”

Miami’s only three returning starters on offense are all linemen. Additionally, the team reeled in former TCU offensive lineman James Brockermeyer, via the NCAA Transfer Portal. McElroy named Miami’s offensive line the sixth-best in the country in his preseason rankings.

While Miami has no shortage of advantages, it won’t have an easy path to the CFP. The Hurricanes have one of the toughest schedules of any team in the ACC, and will be challenged immediately this fall.

“They get some really good challenges, but they are at home. They’ll have Notre Dame at home. That’s Week 1, massive game there on Sunday night,” McElroy said. “… The big thing with Miami is don’t lose to the teams that you should beat. That’s been a little bit of a problem the last two years.

“They kind of elevate their play at times. And they have, at times, played down to the level of the competition… If they can just play up to their potential on a week-to-week basis, you got to feel really confident about what Miami might be able to do here in ’25.”