Canes Watching SpongeBob, Not Polls
Can the Canes run the table? Absolutely.
Getty Images
With OU, FSU, and Virginia Tech out of the way, who stands between Miami and 11-1? Anyone?
After Miami knocked off last year's BCS no. 2 Oklahoma on Saturday, the question is: with the murderer's row of the first four games behind them, can the no. 11 'Canes run the table?
In a word, yes.
That is, if Jacory Harris' SpongeBob rule is effective in keeping the team focused.
“The only thing that we’re going to watch on TV from now on is SpongeBob,” Miami Coach Randy Shannon recalled Harris saying about “SpongeBob SquarePants.” “'We ain’t watching ESPN [on locker room televisions]. We ain’t watching CBS. We ain’t watching ABC. If SpongeBob can tell you how good you are, then you deserve it.'"
“Sometimes [the media hype is] too much,” Harris told ESPN. “You don’t want to walk into the locker room and hear ‘Oh, the swagger is back at the University of Miami.’ You’re gonna stop and watch it. So now we’re just going to change the channel, watch '48 Hours', some SpongeBob, things of that nature.”
Et tu, Jacory? We thought we were finally over this SpongeBob thing.
But Miami's gloriously coiffed leader is right: the key to 11-1 is focus. Though the rest of the season looks as if it were scheduled by Gators AD Jeremy Foley -- unranked, spongy, and covered in cream cheese frosting -- cupcakes can go straight to your thighs.
But FAMU, Clemson, UCF, and Wake Forest should only be losses if Jacory breaks a leg. Virginia is for lovers of long-term coaching hot seats (though as a hunk of sedimentary rock, Al Groh doesn't feel temperature) and staying polite in defeat three times already this season. North Carolina has had the Hurricanes' number, but Butch Davis' squad is struggling and likely no match for Mark Whipple's offense.
That leaves USF as the probable trap game.
The Bulls stand 5-0, though only one win came against a ranked opponent when USF met and bested Florida State. They may drop a game in Big East play (we see you, Cincinnati), but will no doubt come to make a case for a Big Four when the Hurricanes travel to Raymond James.
If Miami does pull it off? It'll take a little luck -- and help from Georgia Tech -- to make an ACC Championship appearance, but an at-large BCS Bowl would be likely.
Of course, it's not entirely fair to get too far ahead of this young team -- again -- but then, they won't be reading this.
They're only allowed to watch cartoons.
Copyright NBC Owned Television Stations
Posted Monday, Oct 5, 2009 - 5:07 PM EST
