When Florida State joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1992, the Seminoles made an immediate impact. They won or shared nine straight ACC football titles.

When the Miami Hurricanes joined the league in 2004,  they were expected to compete for a bunch of conference championships, too. 

What's happened? Not a thing. Not a damn thing.

This is the Hurricanes' 22nd season in the league, and they've never won a single ACC title. They've only even played in the ACC Championship Game once, and got drilled 38-3 by Clemson in 2017.

This year was supposed to be different. Mario Cristobal finally had his own players and NIL money was flowing in freely from their wealthy fan base. They were a top-10 team in the preseason, and moved all the way up to No. 2 in the country after five straight wins, including huge rivalry wins against Notre Dame, Florida and Miami.

This was the year!

This was the year they would win the ACC, and compete for a national title. Finally. Instead the 2025 campaign has fallen apart completely in the past three weeks. The lost at home to unranked Louisville on Oct. 17, then lost 26-20 in overtime at SMU on Saturday, another unranked team who was a 12.5-point underdog.

Winning the ACC seems out now, as does making the College Football Playoff. They are self-destructing right before our eyes.

Quarterback Carson Beck, who took millions of dollars to leave Georgia and come to Miami, had two more interceptions against SMU. He had four in the Louisville loss. And Miami's vaunted defense allowed 365 passing yards by SMU's Kevin Jennings. Throw in 12 penalties, and it's very clear this is an undisciplined team that makes way too many mistakes.

They are a mess right now. They've now lost four games in the past two years while being favored by seven points or more.

“A lot of self-inflicted issues for us,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “A lot of penalties, it’s on all of us.”

No kidding. 

Any time Miami loses a game or two, the fan base quickly turns on the coach. Cristobal is getting roasted, according to Miami Roundtable publisher Shandel Richardson. Many are questioning the Cristobal hiring in the first place.

South Florida Icon Suggests Miami Hurricanes Should Have Hired Lane Kiffin Uncle Luke ripped into Miami Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal after Saturday's disappointing loss to SMU

The second league loss is a big deal, because even with Clemson and Florida State struggling this year, there are several other ACC teams that are having great seasons. Virginia is the last unbeaten in league play, going 5-0 in the ACC and 8-1 overall. Their only loss was to NC State, but that was considered a nonconference game back in early September.

Georgia Tech is 8-1 as well, but lost their first ACC game on Saturday at NC State. They are one of four ACC teams with one league loss. SMU, Louisville and Pittsburgh are the others, and the first two hold the tiebreaker now with Miami in regards to qualifying for the ACC title game.

Here are the current ACC standings:

The Hurricanes are home for games with Syracuse and a hot NC State team, then close out the season on the road at Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh. It seems like their only path to the playoffs now is to find a way into the ACC title game — and win it. That guarantees a spot. Being an at-large selection seems like a longshot now. 

Twenty-two years without an ACC title. No one would have ever guessed that when they joined the league in 2004. How times have changed.