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Five UM students launch Miami Venture Studio to bridge campus talent with companies

Katie Karlson
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Five UM students launch Miami Venture Studio to bridge campus talent with companies

Five UM students launched Miami Venture Studio, a startup company designed to connect students with company executives, leaders and investors.

The idea for MVS originated about nine months ago. Yusif Gurbanli, a fourth-year Ph.D. student studying mechanical engineering, and Jaron Mohammed, a junior also studying mechanical engineering, found themselves overwhelmed by companies asking them for help with coding and other tasks.

“At some point, you just can’t keep on saying yes to the companies. You can say yes like twice, but you just can’t do ten projects at the same time,” said Gurbanli. “But, you know other people who can do probably as good of a job as you could have done and you want to give them an opportunity.“

With a rough idea in mind, the pair joined forces with three students they knew from a mechanics lab and other classes. The other three founders are all juniors majoring in various disciplines, giving MVS leadership a diverse set of skills.

Sebastian Cervello is studying mechanical engineering, Audrish Chattaraj is studying business analytics and AI and Daniel Gregor is studying business administration and computer science with a minor in economics. 

The founders described MVS as a “bridge” between UM students and companies interested in hiring students for help, or investing in student ideas. 

Despite MVS only opening to students about three months ago, the initiative already has more than 100 student applicants. MVS has also already formed relationships with seed-stage companies to large enterprises mainly in the Miami and South Florida region.  

The networking process flows both ways. Students reach out to larger companies asking for investments or advice, and companies reach out looking for talented students or new investments. 

MVS is also tapping into UM’s alumni network to build relationships and spread the word about the initiative. 

While UM has similar programs to support entrepreneurs — like The Launch Pad and UStart — the MVS founders still felt that the startup scene in Miami is compartmentalized. MVS aims to unify these disconnected groups and create one community, much like Silicon Valley’s Y Combinator, where students, founders and investors can meet and exchange ideas. 

“Our primary focus is to connect the students to the local people that would need that help and stop the brain leakage out of Miami,” Gurbanli said. “A lot of talented students by junior year … already have offers from San Francisco from New York, and that kind of drains the talent out of the city.”

The next step? MVS wants to host weekly coffee chat events where everybody is treated as equals, whether student or CEO. 

“It’s more about everybody trying to get to know more people, learn what everybody else is doing, polish their own knowledge, add something,” Gurbanli said. “That’s when things truly take off, when there’s a symbiotic relationship in the community, when nobody’s trying to look for personal gain, but they add on to each other, so eventually you’re going to end up in a positive.”

While the founders are keeping MVS independent of UM at the moment, they are open to working more formally with the University in the future. 

MVS is more than a company matchmaking service. The founders see it as a community and an accessible way to break into the world of entrepreneurship.

Natalia Roth brings Puerto Rico to the world

Gabriel Mena
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Natalia Roth brings Puerto Rico to the world

DJ and vocalist Natalia Roth’s journey started on a Caribbean island where electronic music was still finding itself. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Roth grew up moving between cultures: Argentinian roots on her mother’s side, Cuban heritage on her father’s, and the island’s own rhythms.

Electronic parties weren’t exactly everywhere, but Roth found them early. 

“My mom had a lot to do with it,” Roth said. “I was really young, but she made sure I did it right.”

Puerto Rico’s rave ecosystem was small,medium promoters, a few big players, and long stretches without much happening. But those rare events created a kind of anticipation Roth still remembers. 

“You would prep everything, get ready early, wait for that one night,” Roth said. “It was special because not many people knew electronic music yet.” 

Then Hurricane Maria hit, and Roth left the island. The scene collapsed. Reggaetón and trap surged back to dominance, and the kind of spaces she discovered herself in seemed to disappear.

Still, Roth never disconnected. Her own event and label project, Melódie, launched back in 2017, started as Puerto Rican parties before evolving into both a platform and a creative anchor. 

Today she describes Melódie as “events and a record label,” something she pushes only when the timing and  intention feel right. 

“Throwing an event is a full-time job. I like to do things right.,” Roth said. 

With touring accelerating, her focus shifted toward personal growth as an artist. The events, she said, will always follow.

That artistic direction is exactly where Roth feels she is transforming. During our conversation, she spoke about a personal “awakening,” a shift she connects with real experiences rather than industry milestones. 

“A lot of artists say you have to go out there and live and it’s true,” Rold said..

 “Bad things are meant to happen for you to appreciate the good ones.” 

Roth describes herself as “a very in-my-feelings type of girl,” but what she means is closer to emotional architecture. 

Her music is becoming a translation of everything she’s lived, not just technical progression. She talks about metamorphosis, evolution, awareness and feeling things deeply. Standing after her opening set at Factory Town, what radiated wasn’t ego but conviction.

Roth wants to build on that transformation. This upcoming year, she says, is about creating without inhibition. 

Her focus: an album made of multiple genres that “represent me, but all collide and tell a story.” She has new releases lined up, new Melódie records being pressed and a clear mission: eventually play full sets made entirely of her own music.

For Roth, all the work she’s done has been leading to her dream.  Everything is building a sound that feels like her, shaped by where she’s been, what she’s lived through and what she’s ready to do next.

UM officials detail new construction projects and plans 

Martina Pantaleon
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UM officials detail new construction projects and plans 

In a roundtable discussion with The Hurricane on Dec. 3, the administration revealed that Gables Village is not the last step in UM’s Housing Facilities Strategic Plan. The plan includes a new dining hall, possible changes to Eaton and potential renovations to Whitten LC. 

Plans to demolish Mahoney-Pearson and replace it with the new residential complex, Gables Village, became public in November. Construction for Gables Village will begin Aug. 2026.

The project is projected to be completed by Aug. 2028. But closing Mahoney-Pearson will still result in a 206-bed net loss despite the imminent opening of the new Centennial towers. 

“When you are making progress as a University, there is a price we all have to pay. None of us have a Free Card,” said Richard Sobaram, associate vice president of student affairs and housing strategic initiatives. “Somebody paid a price before we got here, and now that we are here, we are doing our part for the future generation of students that are coming.”

For some, the price could be the feeling of “losing” on housing opportunities.

Lakeside used to be the most coveted housing for sophomores. Once completed, Gables Village will take over its role as sophomore housing. Lakeside will become housing primarily for juniors and seniors.

“The ‘winners’ are the ones that got Lakeside as sophomores and Lakeside as juniors,” said Patricia Whitely, senior vice president of student affairs and alumni engagement. “The freshmen that went to Centennial and then got Mahoney as sophomores will feel like they lost something. But they were never intended to get that.”

To make sure Gables Village is still an attractive option for sophomores, the layout will be a “suit style” for independent living.

Once Gables Village is completed, UM is setting its sights on improving Eaton.

“Eaton is on the horizon, we know that. It’s prime real estate,” said Whitely.

Whether Eaton will be replaced or renovated has not been determined. But the Housing and Residential Life offices will be moved to Gables Village to “capture the new space.” 

UM’s future construction plans also revealed possible renovations for the Whitten Learning Center. 

Joel Samuels, who became Provost on Aug. 11, is focused on improving the “classroom experience,” Brumley said. Whitten LC is part of that discussion.

Whitely also said that UM wants to be strategically aware of land opportunities. She mentioned that the land across the street next to the Bagel Emporium could soon hold 800 more beds, and UM needs to consider surrounding housing opportunities and enrollment statistics in all construction decisions. 

Expanding UM’s campus across the street could make campus life “harder to navigate and manage.”

As new off-campus housing continues to be built in convenient locations, UM will have to rethink if more beds are needed on-campus. The housing plan is far from finished.

Plans for Gables Village include renovating dining areas.

The new dining hall will be built on the first floor of Gables Village, under the suites. Mahoney-Pearson Dining Hall will remain in operation until it opens in Jan. 2029.

“There will never be a situation where students don’t have a dining hall in that area open and functioning,” said Jessica Brumley, vice president of facilities operations and planning.

To accommodate the 2,000 residents living in Centennial Village and Eaton, UM plans to add more seating to the Centennial dining hall. The green area looking out towards the Shallala Student Center could be replaced with 110 outdoor seating spaces. 

Alongside additional seating, Residential Assistants who were previously in Mahoney-Pearson could be moved to Centennial Village Phase Two. During recruitment, RAs are not guaranteed a place in the same building. So returning RAs could end up on the other side of campus.

First-year Fellows only work in freshman housing, so they will be moved entirely to Centennial Village.

Large changes to UM’s campus like this one require funding, and it remains unclear what this means for tuition or housing costs. 

“Housing is on its own bottom,” said Whitely. “Housing supports housing.”

The budget for projects like Gables Village comes from the housing costs already included in students’ tuition. Whitely compared the costs to a mortgage. 

No information has been released on the expected cost of construction. Once the project is officially announced, it will be available on the Student Affairs New Student Housing page.  

The expected cost of living is also unknown. Currently, on-campus housing can range from $5,590 for a double at Eaton to $14,020 for an apartment at Lakeside.

UM expects to remain competitive with the market in the area by comparing costs to off-campus housing like Lifetime and Standard.

“If I’m the parent of a student and I can get a better rate at Thesis across the street, that’s what I’m going to do,” said Sobaram.

With this reality in mind, UM will also offer support to those students who cannot find a spot on campus with off-campus housing fairs and assistance through the waitlist procedures. 

Thesis Hotel across the street will provide transitional housing until students can find permanent solutions. The details of this initiative have not been revealed yet.

Plans for Gables Village are designed to appeal to sophomore students beyond price.

“Most students want single rooms when they are sophomores,” Sobaram said

Gables Village will offer four-person suites to accommodate this. 

60% will have four single rooms, two bathrooms, two sinks outside the bathroom and a common room without a kitchen or laundry. The other 40% will have the same layout but with two double rooms. 

Planning for Gables Village focused on aligning the project with UM’s sustainability goals. Effective AC methods, energy-efficient glass for windows and landscaping with native plants that need minimal watering are some of the measures.

It is unclear when all phases of the project will be completed. UM officials want students to think of the future instead of being frustrated with how long it may take.

“These things take time,” said Whitely. “There are a lot of pieces of the puzzle going back from 2012 through now to 2032.”

Men I Trust dazzles the Fillmore on the Equus Tour

Keira Faddis
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Men I Trust dazzles the Fillmore on the Equus Tour

What I expected to be the ultimate “performative male contest,” ended up being a breathtaking performance by the Canada-based indie band “Men I Trust.” They rocked The Fillmore Miami Beach on Nov. 23 to a sold out audience of more than 2,500 fans on their Equus tour. 

This was my first time seeing the band live, though I have been a casual listener for a few years now. 

Two hours before the doors opened, fans lined up around the block, dressed in their Saturday best. Some fans even wore wizard costumes imitating the cover art for the bands’ 2024 single “Husk.”

At around 8:30 p.m., Evan Wright, an indie music artist, and his band took to the stage to perform a short opening set of “country-tinged indie psychedelia” music before Men I Trust came on stage. 

His indie aesthetic matched the vibe of the main act, perfectly setting the tone for the evening. .

Blue, yellow and red lighting cast the stage, leaving lead singer and guitarist Emmanuelle “Emma” Proulx in smoky clouds and shadows. At times, backlit white lights and smoke illuminated Proulx’s silhouette, giving the appearance of a halo around her head. 

Guitarist Jesse Caron, keyboardist Dragos Chiriac, drummer Eric Maillet, bassist Alexis and Proulx herself worked together to keep the crowd entertained for more than an hour and a half. 

The set kicked off with “To Ease You,” a song off of their fifth “Equus Caballas.” From the second level of the general admission standing area, I watched the front pit sway and jump to the soft and dreamy music. 

Toward the back of the pit, people danced with each other, twirling and skipping, even when the music was more moody or slow.  

I was captivated by Proulx’s airy and soft voice, particularly during songs like “Hard to See” and “Humming Man.” Her tone matched her laid-back outfit choice, as she was dressed in a plain long sleeve tee and a pair of grey jeans. 

While there was minimal crowd work, Proulx did talk to the audience a little bit about the band’s last time in Miami, though the show she was talking about was technically in Fort Lauderdale. 

Men I Trust performed alongside “Triathlon” at the Revolution Live venue on the “Untourable Album” tour at Fort Lauderdale in June 2023. Their quiet stage presence felt intentional and aligned with their mellow musical identity. 

Many of the songs performed on this tour sound extremely similar. For $90 a ticket, this may not be everybody’s cup of tea. However, for such a small and intimate venue, I thought the ambiance and vibes were perfect, and the similarity of the music added to that. 

Proulx and the band exited the stage after their song “Tailwhip,” seemingly wrapping up the set. After the entire venue erupted into chants of “encore,” the band returned to the stage and kicked off the second part of the performance with “Show Me How,” the band’s most popular song, which currently has more than 700 million streams on Spotify. 

“Show Me How” sent a wave of energy through the crowd, with what felt like everybody in the venue singing back to the group. This is a must-experience show for any Men I Trust fan, from casual listeners, like myself, to die-hard fans. 

One critique that I do have is the fan etiquette at this show. One fan in the general admission standing area lit a cigarette in the middle of the concert. The Fillmore is a smoke-free facility, and the fan who violated the policy did put a slight damper on the night.  

Something that I have noticed is that no matter the size of the artist or the venue, there will always be a few people who just do not have any etiquette. This October, I had the pleasure of seeing Billie Eilish perform at the Kaseya Center, and an unruly fan yanked Eilish into the barricade. 

The tour has so far been across the United States and a few cities in Canada, but will head back to Canada in December, to Asia in January and then to Europe in June of 2026. 

Be sure to catch Men I Trust on the Equus tour on their home turf if you find yourself in Canada this December or January. View more tour dates and shop tour merch on the Men I Trust website.

Centennial Village Phase Two building names decided as Biscayne, Grove and Vista

Vivian Amoia
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Centennial Village Phase Two building names decided as Biscayne, Grove and Vista

The names for the second phase of Centennial Village, scheduled to open in fall 2026, have been released.

These three buildings, which are part of a four-year, $335 million project, will be called Biscayne, Grove and Vista. 

The names are references to places in the city of Miami like the famous Coconut Grove and Biscayne Bay. 

The names were selected after discussion with the administration, residential assistants and housing staff, according to Senior Vice President Pat Whitely.

“We asked a lot of our RA staff and our housing staff what they would like to see and we gave them ideas. We had kind of a contest,” she said. 

Before Grove was selected, the committee had decided on Gables. These names switched because administration decided “Gables Village” was a better fit for the new dorms replacing Mahoney-Pearson, scheduled to open fall 2029.

Centennial Village Phase Two will hold approximately 1,150 students, including the same luxury room styles as the first two Centennial Village buildings: standard singles, standard doubles and large doubles.

The large doubles, according to Associate VP Richard Sobaram, were created with the intention of being used to house student-athletes or to be converted into triples, which happened in CV One this past year. 

While the three new sky-scraper-like buildings of Centennial may seem like they would house most of the incoming freshman, there will be a deficit of 206 beds once Mahoney-Pearson is demolished.

The administration says this will be solved with more students living off campus.

The completion of Biscayne, Grove and Vista will create a hotspot on campus for freshmen to create a better sense of community in their own village. The incoming class will fill the barren rooms this upcoming fall.

Miami elects Democrat to mayor’s office for first time in three decades

Lazaro Chavez
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Miami elects Democrat to mayor’s office for first time in three decades

City of Miami residents have elected a Democrat to the mayor’s office for the first time since 1993. 

Democrat Commissioner of Miami-Dade County Eileen Higgins defeated former City Manager and Republican Emilio Gonzalez. Higgins will also become the first female mayor in the city’s history.

The runoff race resulted from neither Higgins or Gonzalez reaching more than 50% of votes. The race had 11 other candidates, including the father of the outgoing mayor Francis Suarez, former Mayor Xavier Suarez in the Nov. 4 Primary. 

Higgins took the seat by nearly 60% of the vote, adding another victory to an already stacked tally for the Democrats in this year’s elections. 

“Tonight history was made. It’s very exciting to be the first woman to serve the city of Miami,” said Higgins to reporters.

Higgins campaigned on affordability, an issue that is important to many young voters. 

“We will cut red tape, repair what’s broken and modernize City Hall. We will confront the affordability crisis with the urgency Miami families need,” Higgins said.

She also championed the expansion of mass transit, including resolving the legal dispute between Brightline and Florida East Coast Railway to complete a commuter train project connecting Miami to Aventura. She has also promised to complete the Baylink train, a long proposed project that extends  the metro mover service between Miami and Miami Beach. 

The outcome of this race was particularly impactful, as President Donald Trump had endorsed Gonzalez. 

“It is my Great Honor to endorse Emilio T. Gonzales to be the next Mayor of the Beautiful City of Miami, Florida!” Trump said on Truth Social.

The DNC also deployed its forces into the race. Higgins was endorsed by former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and campaigned during early voting with Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego. 

With the blue surge seen in the mayoral election in New York and gubernatorial one in Virginia, many political pundits were watching the race closely, with the Miami Herald even calling the race a “bellwether,” or indicator of trends, for the 2026 midterms.

Despite the gains made by Democrats suggesting a shift from 2024, Republican leadership remains outwardly unbothered by the results. 

GOP leaders have deflected many of the party’s losses as par for the course, with the races being in states and cities that tend to vote Democratic anyhow. However, Mayor Suarez, a Republican,  had won reelection four years earlier to the same seat Higgins won with an overwhelming 70% of the vote. 

Chairman Cooper told Politico that Democrats were “making a mountain out of a molehill.”

“They are going to try to read something into this that it’s not,” he said. “It’s not a rebuke of the president or the party. Democratic city elects Democratic mayor,” Cooper added.

White House Chief of Staff Susi Wiles has also confirmed that President Trump will campaign “like it’s 2024” in races across the country during the midterms. Putting himself on the trail as the face for candidates he is backing, something that a second term president typically doesn’t do. 
This comes roughly a month after Trump told GOP senators that him not being on the ballot was “was the biggest factor” in these losses.

New reports of duck cruelty spark student concerns

Hannah Valdivia
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New reports of duck cruelty spark student concerns

A YikYak post from Wednesday, Nov. 19 pictured a deceased duck with the caption, “Just witnessed someone literally driving over a duck and leaving it there on the street to die.” 

According to the YikYak user, the car that allegedly hit the duck was a grey BMW X5. The driver has not been identified. 

The University of Miami is home to several species of animals including cats, birds and lizards. Wildlife is arguably a central part of the University, however, this is not the first account of on campus animal cruelty that has been reported this semester. 

In late August of 2025, several videos of an individual kicking the now-viral campus duck ‘Ivan’ were circulating around YikYak. 

Students were furious, taking to social media to bring attention to the issue of animal cruelty on UM’s campus. 

UPurr member Charlotte Watts told The Hurricane in August, “It’s important to remember that we share this campus with the wildlife. It’s not just ours, and people shouldn’t be so selfish and cruel.” 

Families of ducks are frequently seen waddling through campus and past groups of students. The ducklings, specifically, have garnered more positive attention across social media. 

Students will often post photos and videos admiring the ducklings as they take naps or swim in Lake Osceola. One anonymous YikYak user posted a video on Nov. 20, with a video of one of the ducklings captioned, “Made my day.”

Despite the ducks being so popular among University of Miami students, there are still outliers. 

One user replied to the thread of the injured duck saying, “Population control, now the other ducks have more resources.” 

When asked to comment, the University replied, “Any incidents involving injured or dead animals on campus can be reported to University of Miami Police Department by calling 305.284.6666 or by submitting a safety concern to Environmental Health and Safety at report_safety-concerns@miami.edu.”

Inter Miami lifts MLS Cup in what may be Lionel Messi’s last final

Omar Pinto
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Inter Miami lifts MLS Cup in what may be Lionel Messi’s last final

Inter Miami CF won the MLS cup this past Saturday, capping off a storybook run for Lionel Messi and The Herons. Arguably the greatest player to ever touch the pitch, the win gave Messi his 48th trophy of his illustrious career. 

Established in 2020, Inter Miami CF immediately gained notice in part of its co-owner David Beckham, another legend of the game. However, things didn’t start great for Beckham’s new club. Miami struggled in its first few years, sitting at last place in the league, failing to win any hardware or make any big signings.

But things changed dramatically in 2023 with the signing of one man: Messi. It was the biggest signing in MLS history by far, but it wasn’t easy to convince the most beloved player in the sport to sign with a struggling club in a league which has never been considered world-class.

Messi’s ground-breaking contract included a share of Apple TV’s MLS Season Pass subscriptions, Adidas jersey sales and global merchandising, and the option to buy a minority stake in Inter Miami CF, all on top of a $50–60M/year salary.

But the deal has been worth every penny.

Messi brought along with him former star teammates from Barcelona, including Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba, and Sergio Busquets.

Once he signed, everything changed for Miami, and the entire MLS. Inter Miami gained millions of new social media followers in days, quickly becoming the most followed MLS team. Apple TV subscriptions spiked globally, and ticket prices for Miami games rose up to 1,000%.

Within Messi’s first month, he scored 10 goals in seven games, leading Miami to the 2023 Leagues Cup title — the first trophy in club history. However, the trophy everyone wanted was the MLS cup, awarded to the best team in MLS over the course of the season.

The road to the MLS championship is unlike other leagues around the world. Even if you finish atop the table, which Miami did, you have to play your way through five rounds of playoffs.

Messi’s run through the 2025 playoffs was vintage. He set a league record with 15 goal contributions (six goals, nine assists), earning 2025 MLS cup MVP.

Photo credit: Bryan Berlin via Wikimedia Commons // Lionel Messi during New England Revolution vs Inter Miami on July 9, 2025

The final was everything fans could have wanted. Miami took on the Vancouver Whitecaps, who finished second in the Western Conference with an 18-9-7 record. They beat Miami 3-1 earlier in the season, and had German icon and World Cup champion Thomas Müller. 

Having the better regular-season record, Miami earned home-field advantage, which proved crucial in the final. Fans rallied behind Messi at Chase Stadium, chanting his name throughout the game, hailing him, and praising him like a god. Argentine flags flailed about in the stands which were painted pink with “Messi” jerseys. 

The game was also Alba and Busquets’s last ever professional game. Both players are all-time greats and considered the best to ever play their positions, and everyone watching wanted their storied careers to end on a high note.

Within the first 10 minutes, Miami gained the lead thanks to Messi. He escaped two Whitecaps defenders on the sideline and flicked the ball downfield, ending at forward Tadeo Allende’s feet, which he clipped off a Vancouver defender and into the net to open the scoring.

After a Vancouver goal and another shot off the post, it was starting to look like Messi and company were in trouble, until the 71st minute. Messi pick-pocketed a Whitecaps player and perfectly slid the ball between two more defenders, landing at fellow Argentine Rodrigo De Paul’s feet before he slotted it home into the corner for the lead.

To cap off the game, it was more vintage action, this time from Alba. In the 96th minute, Alba played a long ball into the middle for Messi, who chested the ball and immediately volleyed it over the head of a Vancouver defender. As it always does when leaving the boot of Messi, the ball plopped right into the lap of his target man, Tadeo Allende, who had one man standing between him and securing Miami’s first MLS championship. He sliced the ball right through the keeper’s legs, perfectly capping off Inter Miami’s storied season.

Two assists for Messi in a vintage final performance, a beautiful ball for the last pass of Jordi Alba’s career, and just another trophy for the boy from Rosario, Argentina.

Photo credit: Bryan Berlin via Wikimedia Commons // Lionel Messi during New York City FC vs Inter Miami CF on 24 Sep 2025

Jocelyn Pringle: The new name everyone in Miami should know

Jamison DeLaine
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Jamison DeLaine hosts an in-depth conversation with the University of Miami’s own Jocelyn Pringle, covering her transition to a new program, her growth as a content creator, and her bold plans to enter the world of WWE. Her story is inspiring, funny, and unforgettable. Don’t miss it.

Notre Dame’s bowl game snub is soft and cowardly, but the real evil is the CFP Committee itself

Liam Hickey
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Notre Dame’s bowl game snub is soft and cowardly, but the real evil is the CFP Committee itself

On live national television, Notre Dame was humiliated in front of millions.

Sitting idly in their team facility, all they could do was watch as the College Football Playoff Selection Committee left the Fighting Irish as the “first team out” of the 12-team bracket. Despite being ahead of Miami in the previous five rankings, the Hurricanes vaulted in front of Notre Dame for the final at-large spot with the No. 10 seed.

South Bend was stunned. 

Neither Notre Dame or Miami played a game over this weekend, yet the committee switched the teams on the last day after failing to do so for the last month, pulling the rug out from underneath the Irish at the last second. 

And then came the bombshell. 

In an unprecedented decision, Notre Dame announced they would be withdrawing from bowl game consideration and calling it quits on the 2025 college football season. But how can you blame them?

Although Notre Dame was wrong to bail on their season so disgracefully, the greater evil is the Selection Committee, which botched the ranking process and misled the Irish for over a month. 

While the decision to include Miami and leave Notre Dame out was the correct one, the committee’s  utter inability to show even a baseline consistency in their week-to-week judgements triggered the total meltdown by ND that the rest of the college football world now has to deal with. 

Is abandoning the season before it’s over one of the softest things a team could possibly do? Yes.

Does it make them look like crybabies and whiny losers to the rest of college football for blatantly giving up when they don’t get everything they want for once? Yup. 

Does it sabotage the young and overlooked players on their roster who are now denied their last chance of showcasing their talents on the field to prove they deserve a spot on the team for 2026? Sure does.

Is the committee completely justified in putting Miami above Notre Dame with both teams having almost identical résumés and the Hurricanes beating them head-to-head earlier in the season? Absolutely. 

Running away from a bowl game is indefensible on a competitive level and the Irish deserve every joke that will be made at their expense. But, it doesn’t change the fact that the committee carried out procedural malpractice for weeks, setting false expectations with its own rankings and then reversing course without any reasonable explanation. 

Notre Dame’s scorched-earth stance is the raw reaction of a program blindsided by a group of “experts” that couldn’t maintain its own standards, let alone justify a last-minute flip that contradicted a month of its own evaluations. 

From their viewpoint, the Irish were used as a pawn in ESPN’s circus of a weekly CFP selection show that was nothing but a “farce and total waste of time,” according to ND athletic director Pete Bevacqua. 

Ironically, all of this outrage comes despite the fact that the correct decision was ultimately made to leave Notre Dame out of the College Football Playoff. 

But it was the despicably bad process by the committee along the way to this outcome that had led them astray since Nov. 4, giving them deceptive hope and leaving its fanbase rightfully upset. 

This fallout could have been avoided entirely if the committee had done the right thing from the start and ranked Miami ahead of Notre Dame weeks ago. The head-to-head criteria had been in place since the weekly rankings began, explicitly outlined in their own bylaws as one of the most important factors to consider when comparing two teams. 

All the committee needed to do was simply follow its own rules, yet it chose to completely disregard the guidelines. 

The CFP committee finally came to its senses and recognized its mistake just hours before the final selection show, but by then it was far too late. Nothing it could say would be able to sufficiently rationalize why the members decided to change their minds so late when the decisive data point had been laid out in front of them from the beginning. 

Thus, when Selection Committee Chair Hunter Yurachek was pressed to explain why he and his members waited so unforgivably long to flip Notre Dame and Miami, instead of doing it from the outset to avoid controversy, his answer was pathetic. 

All he could say was that they were incapable of factoring in the head-to-head result until BYU were blown out of the Big 12 Championship, allowing the two teams to finally be compared with one another because they were now side-by-side in the rankings. 

A laughable excuse that directly contradicted his statement from several weeks earlier, when Yurachek told ESPN they would be compared as soon as they were seeded within the same cluster of four teams. Not to mention they had already set the precedent of head-to-head being a valuable metric when placing 9-3 Texas over 10-2 Vanderbilt the week prior because the Longhorns had beaten them on Nov. 1. 

That inconsistency was precisely what made this disaster inevitable. Had the CFP committee used common sense and slotted Miami ahead of Notre Dame weeks ago, the Irish would almost certainly be preparing to play in a bowl game right now. 

Instead, the panel spent an entire month signaling that they were safely in the field only to yank that assurance away and pull the plug at the finish line. 

Yes, Notre Dame’s decision to quit on their 2025 season was soft, petty, embarrassing and downright cowardly for such a self-righteous program that postures itself as morally and fundamentally superior to every other team and treats the rest of college football like it’s beneath them. 

But, like it or not, it’s the predictable result when the governing body mismanages the process so badly and categorically destroys all their credibility by going back on their word to banish one of the odds-on favorites to win the national championship from the playoffs altogether. 

Actions have consequences, and this one falls squarely on the committee. They created this mess, and now everyone else is left to clean up the chaos they unleashed.

Miami volleyball season ends, falling to Kansas in the second round 3-1

Max Diaz
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Miami volleyball season ends, falling to Kansas in the second round 3-1

The No. 5 seed Miami Hurricanes had their record season come to an end on Friday night, falling to the No. 4 seeded Kansas Jayhawks, 3-1, in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Even in defeat, UM’s star was in top-form. Senior Flormarie Heredia Colon notched 14 digs and 27 kills, ending her college career with 1,896 kills, more than any other Hurricane in program history. Senior Naylani Feliciano also surpassed 1,000 career digs with 14.

The first set started off neck-and neck with Heredia Colon notching a kill to tie the set at five apiece. 

But right after, Kansas pulled away by going on a 5-0 run to make the score 10-5. During the run, Kansas senior Rhian Swanson had back-to-back kills. 

The ’Canes never closed the gap for the remainder of the set as the closest they would come after would be when senior Dalia Wilson tallied a kill to bring the Kansas lead down to 16-13. The Jayhawks went on to win the set 25-17, closing with a kill by freshman Selena Leban, taking a 1-0 match lead.

Like set one, the second set started out with a battle with an ace by Wilson giving Miami a slight edge for a 9-8 lead. However, the Jayhawks, trying to replicate the first set, once again went on a 5-0 run, this time to bring their lead to 13-9. 

Unlike the first set however, the Hurricanes responded to the run well. Their response was simple: they went on a run of their own. The ’Canes went on a 4-0 run, finishing off with a Heredia Colon kill to tie the match at 13-all. The remainder of the set was a back-and-forth battle with the score being tied late at 21 apiece. 

Photo Credit: @Canesvb via X // Miami’s Women’s Volleyball team celebrates its third set win over Tulsa on Dec. 4 2025.

Unfortunately for the Hurricanes, it would be the Jayhawks who would make the finishing blow as they won four out of the final five points. Kansas would win the set, 25-22, bringing them one set from the round of 16, leading 2-0.

Miami started the third set off well, leading 3-2 after a kill by Heredia Colon. In need of a set victory to keep the match and its season alive, Miami controlled the rest of the set, winning three of the last four points, two coming off kills by junior Ava Carney and one by way of an ace from Feliciano. UM would win the set, 25-22, cutting the match score to 2-1.

The fourth and final set began in Miami’s favor with two kills by Heredia Colon and an ace by Wilson gave them an early 4-1 lead. The lead would not last long as a Leban kill tied it up at 5-5. 

A 7-1 Kansas run gave them a 14-9 lead, but the ’Canes battled back for the rest of the set with UM even coming within a point of tying the match when they led the set 24-23. However, a kill by Kansas freshman Jovana Zelenovic tied the match and the Jayhawks then won three of the next four points to win the set 27-25 as well as the match, 3-1, sending themselves to the round of 16.

After the loss, Miami’s season comes to a close. They finished with a 27-6 (16-4 ACC) record, tying the 2002 team’s record for wins in a season for the program. This would also be the last time starters Feliciano, Heredia Colon and Wilson as well as other players, Jazmin Vergara and Lilou Stegeman, will wear the Miami uniform as they all will be graduating. 

Heredia Colon will continue her volleyball career in Major League Volleyball as she was selected in the second round, No. 10 overall, of the 2025 MLV draft to the Columbus Fury. 

Miami will have big shoes to fill next season.

Senior Flormarie Heredia Colon celebrates with her team following Miami’s win over No.4 Pitt on Oct. 10, 2025. Photo Credit: Canes Volleyball on X

Head to head matters: Miami takes final at-large playoff spot over Notre Dame

Shea Mcdonald
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Head to head matters: Miami takes final at-large playoff spot over Notre Dame

After heated debate and weeks of anticipation, the wait is finally over and the debate has been decided. The Miami Hurricanes are going to the College Football Playoff as the 10 seed in the College Football Playoff bracket. 

Miami got the nod over Notre Dame and BYU as the first two at-large teams out of the bracket.

Since Miami fell to two losses on the year, Hurricanes and Fighting Irish fans argued over whether or not Miami’s 27-24 win at the beginning of the season should factor in. 

At the middle point of the season, Miami looked shaky with losses to Louisville and SMU — two respectable teams but games that Miami was a heavy favorite for. With those two losses, the Hurricanes were on the outside looking for the conference let alone College Football Playoffs. 

But down the stretch, Miami played some of its best football of the season dominating teams and out scoring its opponents by 110 points through their last four contests. 

While their two losses and some other tie breakers kept the Hurricanes out of the ACC championship, the team’s wins were impressive enough to keep the ’Canes right within striking distance. Then, when BYU was dominated in the Big-12 championship, the door opened up for Miami to finally get compared one to one with Notre Dame. 

With similar strength of record, schedule, and nearly one-to-one resumes one thing was left to break the tie. Head to head — as Mario Cristobal has been preaching for weeks — was the ultimate decider in the Committee’s decision to put the Hurricanes in.

Miami, as the 10 seed in the bracket, will play No. 7 ranked Texas A&M at Kyle Field on Dec. 20 at noon on ESPN and ABC.

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