Miami-SMU
Saturday, Nov. 1
12 p.m. Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific
ESPN
The Miami Hurricanes are still in good position to make the College Football Playoff due to their wins over Notre Dame and South Florida. However, there are lingering doubts about Mario Cristobal’s ability to land the plane and finish the job. Those doubts do linger because of the home-field loss to Louisville, which was a very familiar stumble for the Hurricanes over the years. With a full month still left in the season, Miami — clearly favored in this SMU game and every other remaining game it will play — has to avoid stumbling. If the Canes can simply take care of business in games they are expected to win, they will make the playoff and achieve a big forward step in Cristobal’s restoration project at The U. Miami let the playoff slip through its fingers late last season even though quarterback Cam Ward was producing an elite season which put him in Heisman Trophy contention. Carson Beck — who is not as good as Cam Ward and whose turnovers cost Miami dearly in the loss to Louisville — has to get back on the beam in this game and play with the precision Miami coaches expect of him.
Miami enters new territory
Hurricanes have to be ready to play their best in an unusual setting
The Miami Hurricanes have not yet played a 2025 college football game outside the state of Florida. Their only road game was at Florida State. Weather in Texas for this long ACC road trip is expected to be near 50 degrees for a game which will start just after 11 a.m. local time in suburban Dallas. The logistics for this game will be unlike anything Miami has dealt with to this point in the season. It’s an obvious trap for the Hurricanes, who will be asked about these details all week leading up to kickoff. Great teams handle these situations, and Miami — after the Louisville loss — has to re-prove that it is a great team. The U did look legitimately great in September but has lost its fastball and has to get it back. This is a test championship teams manage to pass.
Miami Hurricanes-SMU Mustangs Odds
Hear TJ Rives and Jason Powers break down this game on the 3Dog Thursday Podcast by clicking Play below:
Spread: Miami -12.5 (-110), SMU +12.5 (-110)
Total: 51.5 (Over -110, Under -110)
Underdog moneyline: SMU +325
The Miami Hurricanes are, as you can see, double-digit favorites on the road. Given how ordinary Miami has looked in recent weeks, the 12.5-point line is surprising. One would think this line should have been 9.5 or 8.5. SMU plus the points jumps out as the right play here.
People will naturally respond by saying that SMU — especially its offense — looked horrible in a low-scoring loss to Wake Forest which snapped the Mustangs’ 11-game ACC regular-season winning streak. We say “regular season” because SMU did lose to Clemson in last year’s ACC Championship Game.
SMU did look horrible, but we can all appreciate that college football teams often look ahead to big games. SMU was caught looking ahead to Miami. The Canes probably win the game, but 12.5 is far too many points. Unless Miami plays an absolutely flawless game in a place it is not familiar with, SMU should keep this game close.