A buddy of mine and I were having a debate. Question is: how many of Miami’s teams have ever made the top 25 in rankings. For sure I can say men’s football, hockey, and basketball, and I believe golf, and men’s soccer (when it was around). I also think women’s field hockey, and swimming/diving. Anything I forgot or was too young to remember?
1 Like
During my time at Miami, in 1979, the tennis team (Mens) won the MAC and finished 23-1. Georgia was the only team that defeated us.
It’s possible that team was ranked. Maybe I’ll email old ping pong buddy Craig Wittus in Florida and see if he remembers!
Those70’s teams were great. I think I once met Craig. See, I was on the men’s tennis team in the 90’s and we won 3 Mac titles and destroyed a bunch of other great Big ten teams along the way. We even beat Miami Florida who were g-d’s but had a bunch of illegal players in their lineup so had to sit them. Nowadays, if you win the Mac, you get an auto bid to the NCAA’s but back then, no such luck. As a result, we never hit higher than 60. We used to tune OSU and after Miami cancelled the program due to title 9, they won a national championship.
3 Likes
Men’s cross country has had several Top 25 finishes over the decades. IIRC the most recent was in 1985, which obviously isn’t that recent anymore.
2 Likes
That’s cool! I wondered if wrestling ever did. Some of those teams had great individual results at NCAA’s
Maybe I’ll ask my old beer pong buddy Mike Salupo if he remembers.
Funny side note: the years we had that amazing diver on the swim team single handedly got us ranked top 25 due to her finishing 2nd at the ncaa’s. I used to love rubbing that in my friend who swam for LSU’s face as they’re SEC and can get anyone they want but were still well behind us that year.
1 Like
Mike Holcomb I believe finished 3rd in the NCAA’s during the late 70’s.
1984 to be exact. Holcomb lost in the semifinals to a dude named Tab Thacker from NC State by a score of 1-0. Thacker weighed over 400 lbs (compared to Holcomb’s approximate 270 lbs). Afterwards IIRC, the NCAA put an upper weight limit on the heavyweight class because Thacker was simply an immovable object at over 400 lbs. BTW - Thacker was in the movie Wildcats with Goldie Hawn.
1 Like
Epic!
1 Like
The field hockey team has finished in the top 25 each of the last two seasons.
2 Likes
That’s a tremendous success story right there. Say, what about women’s hoops? My sense is the best team ever was Megan’s before she went to Marquette, but maybe I’m wrong. I also forgot women’s volleyball. I believe they were top 25 at one point in the 90s
No NCAA Champions but some great wrestlers.
1 Like
This article is a great read. Killing 3 successful men’s teams in the name of title 9 still hurts all these years later. I have a sister who played D1 tennis so I can absolutely say that I believe in equality. I just think there’s gotta be a better way than just killing opportunities for men. As that’s essentially hurting the dreams of little boys who aspire to go far in a sport they love as much as not offering sports young girls can aspire to compete in does. I know this is a complicated topic, so I’ll shut up as I’m no expert.
1 Like
I think women’s softball either this year or last year may have cracked the top 25.
1 Like
Regarding women’s basketball, I’m going to say the '82-83 team was the best I’ve seen. Hard to compare eras but that team went 21-6 and won the AIAW Regional in Terre Haute. Even though my memory is fuzzy, I think we beat Wisconsin the the Regional Final. MAC Champions at 17-1 and the team featured one time all time scoring leader and Hall of Famer Mary Ann Myers, Hall of Famer Kris Livingston, Hall of Famer Tonya Stubbs and Hall of Famer and the only All American (3rd Team) in Miami history, Linda Mallender. Mallender was also invited to the Olympic tryouts in '84.
@DICK may quibble with my choice but that team had everything, scoring threats everywhere, great defense and ferocious rebounders.
3 Likes
They made it up to the top 5 of the “others receiving votes” category, but they never cracked the top 25 itself. Given how much talent is returning this season, I could see them getting there this spring.
3 Likes
I’m pretty sure women’s soccer was ranked during their outstanding run with Cunningham and Berkemeier.
1 Like
The precision team won a string of national collegiate championships for awhile
Russ Pickering was an All-American wrestler in 1979 or 80.