Ranking The ACC Coastal Division Teams: Miami

The Miami Hurricanes like the Noles have been down and are attempting to get back to the top both nationally and in the ACC. This is probably not going to be the year for that to happen.

The Hurricanes are coming off a 5-7 season that saw them close out the Orange Bowl era with a humiliating loss to Virginia 48-0. They return 4 starters on offense and 5 on defense.

They will now be playing in the stadium of the Miami Dolphins and attempting to get back their swagger that many of us did not like.

The most glaring problem on offense is at quarterback. Miami doesn't have a single quarterback who has ever taken a snap in a college game. R-freshman Robert Marve is expected to be the starter.Marve was a highly-recruited prospect who broke many Florida high school passing records.

The Hurricanes have been known to have quarterbacks become good in a very short time so time will tell if that happens again.

At running back, the Canes have some excellent tailbacks in Javarris James and Graig Cooper. James is a reliable and steady runner who can pick up the tough yards while Cooper is more of a big play threat.

On defense,the Canes do have depth at linebacker. However, Miami's defensive line isn't what it has been in the past last season, and they lost their best defensive lineman Calais Campbell to the NFL.

A positive for the Hurricanes is their 2008 ACC schedule. They avoid Clemson, and their tough ACC games are all at home: FSU, VT, Wake, and UNC. Miami's ACC road contests are Duke, Virginia, GT and NC State.

However, their out of conference road trips will not be fun. They take on the Gators in their second game of the season and then travel to Texas A&M for their third game of the season.

FSU It's Time Ranking Prediction: The Canes have work to do but I believe they will be competitive and can end up in a decent position in the ACC Coastal. I am putting the Canes at # 2 in the Coastal Division in 2008.