Prior to last week, Miami had not held the No. 1 spot in the AP Top 25 poll since 2002, but so far the Hurricanes are looking every bit the part of the best team in the country. Not only have they raced out to a 7-0 start this year, but they've done so in a way that suggests a continuation of the success that led Miami all the way to the national championship game last season. With a 14-1 record in its last 15 games, Miami has been one of the best teams in the country since early November 2025, and now each week provides yet another opportunity for this year's team to validate that high poll ranking.
This week, that means a trip to Chapel Hill to take on Bill Belichick and North Carolina in a game that offers Cristobal and Miami a chance to reverse a recent skid in the series. The Tar Heels have won their last five meetings in the series, including a 2-0 record against Cristobal with wins in 2022 and 2023. But those two Miami teams finished a combined 12-13 overall, while this year's group is clearly playing on a different level.
For starters, those teams didn't have not just one but two Heisman Trophy contenders like Miami does this year with quarterback Darian Mensah and wide receiver Malachi Toney. Those last teams that lost to North Carolina also didn't carry the nation's best scoring margin, as Miami does currently, beating opponents by 33.7 points per game. There's some history that favors UNC, sure, but Miami's strength will challenge the impact of the past.
Tar Heels looking to bounce back from upset home loss: While Miami validated its position at No. 1 last week with a thorough thrashing of Pitt, North Carolina saw some of the hype for this matchup cooled by an upset loss at home to Syracuse. The Tar Heels led by 10 points in the fourth quarter but let Steve Angeli and the Orange offense back into the game with a couple late scores before eventually falling in overtime. That's brought even more urgency to Bill Belichick's crew to have their game locked in for Saturday night, because the kind of failure at the margins that led to the fourth-quarter collapse will only be exposed more dramatically against a team of Miami's caliber.
The Tar Heels have shown in wins over TCU, Pitt and Duke that they can play a tight game and come out on the right side of close margins, but those victories (and certainly any upset effort against Miami) require a cleaner effort than North Carolina showed against Syracuse last week. A Saturday showcase spot for Miami's Heisman Trophy contenders: Miami has a nice two-week run where its opponents and the stage will allow for quarterback Darian Mensah and wide receiver Malachi Toney to receive a big-time spotlight in the national conversation. This week's game against North Carolina, on Halloween night in Chapel Hill, will draw plenty of attention and could allow the Hurricanes (who are 14-point favorites) to continue building the resumes of both Mensah and Toney.
Mensah is putting together one of the best starts to a season we have seen from a quarterback this century, currently leading the nation in completion percentage (81.4%) while also rolling up 22 passing touchdowns (2nd in FBS) and 307.3 passing yards per game (fourth in FBS). Malachi Toney, meanwhile, leads the FBS in receptions (66) and has become the first wide receiver with at least 900 receiving yards and 10 receiving touchdowns on a 7-0 team since eventual Heisman winner DeVonta Smith in 2020. Miami is elite in the middle (of games): It's easy to look at the collection of talent Mario Cristobal has assembled as an explanation for the team's dominance, but that talent has to perform to deliver the kind of results the Hurricanes have been getting over the last two seasons.
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