Miami’s Mario Cristobal sent cynical warning on Stanford, SMU, Syracuse, NC State, Virginia Tech, Pitt

Miami’s Mario Cristobal sent cynical warning on Stanford, SMU, Syracuse, NC State, Virginia Tech, Pitt originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Miami Hurricanes football coach Mario Cristobal’s team doesn’t have its fate in its own hands this season after a shocking 24-21 loss to the Louisville Cardinals on Friday night at Hard Rock Stadium.

Instead, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and Virginia Cavaliers sit in a better position to make the ACC Championship Game. And The Washington Post’s Patrick Stevens doesn’t trust Cristobal’s squad to run the table the rest of the way to eliminate doubt, even with the rest of the conference being a handful of wildcards.

The U faces the Stanford Cardinal, Syracuse Orange, and North Carolina State Wolf Pack in Miami Gardens, the SMU Mustangs in Dallas, the Virginia Tech Hokies in Blacksburg, and the Pitt Panthers in Pittsburgh.

“Friday’s loss means the Hurricanes don’t have a comfortable amount of latitude the rest of the way. Is it ACC title-or-bust? That’s going to depend on what happens elsewhere. A two-loss ACC runner-up (SMU) earned a playoff berth last year,” Stevens wrote.

“But given Miami’s late-season losses to Georgia Tech and Syracuse last season and Friday’s turnover-fest, how easy is it to trust Mario Cristobal’s team to run the table against Stanford, SMU, Syracuse, North Carolina State, Virginia Tech and Pitt in the next six weeks? And would a two-loss team even make the ACC title game? The Hurricanes answered one question, and they prompted a bunch more as a result.”

Cristobal not turning this team into a winner will have the Hurricanes antsy to make a change sooner rather than later. Fanbases have far less patience in the NIL era, and so when a team aggressively spends like Miami just did, living up to potential is urgent.

Not making the College Football Playoff and ACC Championship would be a major disappointment, a year after disappointingly missing the College Football Playoff and ACC Championship.

It’s a vicious cycle for the Hurricanes. We’ll see if Cristobal can break it before job security questions arise before the 2026 season.