SALON

Monday, Feb 11, 2013 10:00 PM UTC

Hurricanes climb to 3rd in rankings for 1st time

By

Topics: From the Wires,

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Miami Hurricanes center Julian Gamble learned about his team’s latest ranking when he received a flurry of phone messages, including one from his mother in North Carolina.

“She texted me — ‘No. 3. Wow. That’s crazy,’” Gamble said. “I didn’t even know what she was talking about.”

For the sixth-year senior, the Hurricanes’ unprecedented achievement was a little tough to grasp. They were ranked behind only No. 1 Indiana and No. 2 Duke in Monday’s poll, and received a school-record 17 first-place votes.

The Hurricanes (19-3, 10-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) had never previously been ranked higher than No. 8. Last week they achieved that spot for the first time since 1960.

“I’ve never really thought that Miami could be a top 10 program,” senior Reggie Johnson said. “I didn’t think we’d be here in February. It’s surreal.”

Miami cracked the Top 25 three weeks ago and has since enjoyed a rapid rise, thanks to a succession of impressive victories and a flurry of losses by highly ranked teams. With the Hurricanes’ win Saturday over North Carolina, they became the first ACC team ever to beat both the Tar Heels and Duke by at least 25 points in the same season.

The Hurricanes are so good they’ve even started to quibble that their ranking isn’t high enough.

“It does feel strange Duke is still ahead of our team,” Johnson said. “I feel like if the poll’s really legit, we should be ranked in front of them.”

Coach Jim Larranaga described the Top 25 as a popularity contest and a beauty contest. But he also said the high ranking will benefit the university and give his program a long-term boost.

Larranaga said he texted recruiting prospects with the news of the latest ranking and received congratulations from every one.

“We had an eighth-grader commit,” the coach said with a grin. “We told him it’s a little too early.”

Larranaga said the Hurricanes are handling success and attention well in part because they’re a senior-laden team. Miami takes an 11-game winning streak into Wednesday’s game at Florida State, and several players said they expect the games to start getting tougher.

“The target on our back is bigger than it ever was,” Gamble said.

“We’re going to get everybody’s best shot,” guard Shane Larkin added.

Larkin’s only a sophomore, but Miami’s other four starters are seniors who are well aware the program’s in uncharted territory. So is Larranaga, who is in his second season with Miami after leading George Mason to the Final Four in 2006.

The Hurricanes have already set a school record for ACC victories in a season, and the last time they received any votes for No. 1 was in March 1960.

“This is what every program strives for,” Larranaga said. “Carolina and Duke have this every year. It’s a little different for us.”

The buzz the Hurricanes are creating is a big change for the long-overlooked program. Monday’s practice drew a large media contingent, and three of the past four home games have been sellouts.

“I’m at the shopping mall and people are coming up to me, ‘Hey, man, I’m proud of you guys. Keep it up,’” Johnson said. “That has never happened before.”

More By Steven Wine.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations