The 2000 Miami Hurricanes football team represented the University of Miami during the 2000 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the Hurricanes' 75th season of football and tenth as a member of the Big East Conference. The Hurricanes were led by sixth-year head coach Butch Davis and played their home games at the Orange Bowl. They finished the season 11–1 overall and 7–0 in the Big East to finish as conference champion. They were invited to the Sugar Bowl where they defeated Florida, 37–20.
The lowest-point of the season was the second game loss at the Washington Huskies. This was the game that ultimately cost Miami a chance to play in the BCS National championship game.
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Memorable games in the 2000 season included beating top ranked FSU for the first time since 1994 in the "Wide Right 2" game. In the game, FSU had a chance to tie the game on last second field goal. Miami CB Mike Rumph sprinted off the line untouched and came within 1 foot of blocking the kick, causing the FSU kicker to adjust and kicking the field goal "Wide Right". This was the third game in the Miami/FSU rivalry where FSU had missed a game ending field goal "Wide Right". Up to this point, this was the most important win in the Butch Davis-coached Miami U teams, proving that Miami could beat a #1 ranked team again.[5]
The 2000 Miami Hurricance finished the season by soundly beating the University of Florida Gators in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.[7]
Controversies
Despite beating the Number 1/2 ranked football teams during the 2000 season and losing only 1 game, the BCS computer model (which chose the two finalists for the NCAA college football season) did not select the University of Miami to play in the National Championship Game, which some fans and analysts thought was a flaw in the BCS.
During the week of the Sugar Bowl, University of Miami and University of Florida football teams engaged in an infamous street fight in New Orleans, dubbed the "Bourbon Street Brawl". Up to 25 players engaged in a street brawl on Bourbon Street with the New Orleans Police being called to break up the fight. Several University of Florida football players showed signs of the fight with bruises on their faces in PR leading up to the game. No arrests were made.
After the Sugar bowl, head coach Butch Davis accepted the head coaching position for the NFL Cleveland Browns.
With their core 2000 roster intact, including Heisman candidates Ken Dorsey and Clinton Portis, Miami would start the 2001 season ranked Number 1. The 2000 team was featured in the ESPN 30 for 30 documentaries, "U part 2," and in, "U Reloaded".
