A look at Miami's latest bowl projections going into conference championship weekend

The Miami Hurricanes football program will find out where it is going bowling on Sunday, December 3rd.

UM finished the 2023 season with a 7-5 record and the Hurricanes will participate in its first bowl game since 2020/

Miami did not qualify for a bowl game in 2022 after a 5-7 showing. In 2021, the Hurricanes went 7-5 and earned a berth to play Washington State in the Sun Bowl under the direction of interim head coach Jess Simpson, but UM had to pull out of the game due to COVID-19 protocols.

The last time Miami played in a bowl game was at the end of the 2020 season with the Hurricanes losing to Oklahoma State, 37-34, in the Cheez-Its Bowl in Orlando, Florida.

So where could the Hurricanes go bowling in December? Here is the projections from various experts going into this weekend’s conference championship game slate:

• Jerry Palm, CBS Sports: Sun Bowl (Dec. 29) Miami vs. Utah

• Brad Crawford, 247Sports: Sun Bowl (Dec. 29) Miami vs. USC

• Brett McMurphy, Action Network: Sun Bowl (Dec. 29) vs. Oregon State

• Mark Schlabach, ESPN: Military Bowl (Dec. 27) Miami vs. Memphis

• Kyle Bonagura, ESPN: Military Bowl (Dec. 27) Miami vs. SMU

• Stewart Mandel, The Athletic: Sun Bowl (Dec. 29) Miami vs. Oregon State

• Bill Bender, Sporting News: Holiday Bowl (Dec. 28) Miami vs. UCLA

• Steven Lassan, Athlon Sports: Sun Bowl (Dec. 29) Miami vs. USC

• Nick Bromberg, Yahoo! Sports: Sun Bowl (Dec. 29) Miami vs. UCLA

• Erick Smith, USA Today: Sun Bowl (Dec. 29) Miami vs. Oregon State

• Bleacher Report: Pinstripe Bowl (Dec. 28) Miami vs. Rutgers

Most of the projections above have the Hurricanes playing in the Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas on December 29th. That game would feature an opponent from the Pac-12.

Oregon State was the most common projected opponent in the Sun Bowl for the Hurricanes with the Beavers coming off an 8-4 showing in 2023. Oregon State is dealing with a coaching transition with Jonathan Smith accepting the open head coaching job at Michigan State and the Beavers promoting defensive coordinator Trent Bray to the head job.

Miami has never played against Oregon State in football.

UM head coach Mario Cristobal is familiar with the Oregon State program dating back to his time as the head coach at Oregon. Cristobal posted a 3-1 record against the Beavers during his time there.

USC (7-5) and UCLA (7-5) also received Sun Bowl projections to play against Miami.

Over the past 15 years, Miami has won just one bowl game: a 31-14 victory over then No. 14 West Virginia in the 2016 Russell Athletic Bowl.

In this modern era of bowl season, roster management will play a key role in what any team looks like. The Hurricanes, for instance, are set to start sophomore Jacurri Brown at quarterback in what will be his 2023 season debut. Tyler Van Dyke announced his intentions to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal this week and true freshman Emory Williams broke his left arm.

Plenty of other positions will need to be monitored as well with players looking to explore options in the portal and NFL Draft.

Miami will find out its bowl fate and opponent on Sunday.