Joel Klatt Declares One College Football Powerhouse Is ‘Back’ After Week 1 Win

College football's Week 1 delivered a handful of high-profile matchups between some of the biggest names in the sport.

Following the chaos, Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt believes there's one historic powerhouse who fully announced they are "back" on the big stage after a monstrous victory on Saturday.

We all know the usual suspects among current contenders — Georgia, Ohio State, Alabama, Texas, etc. However, much like Texas just a few years ago, there's always a slew of big-name programs out there that just haven't been at the top of their game lately. Texas A&M may be one of those in perpetuity.

But Miami (FL) is another program that hasn't recorded the desired results under their recent coaching staffs — evidenced by zero seasons of 9+ wins since 2017. However, after the Hurricanes traveled up to Gainesville and beat the Gators like a drum Saturday, perhaps it's time to take this club seriously as a contender again, this time under Mario Cristobal.

Joel Klatt believes so and shared a bold declaration on his show Labor Day morning.

"Hey, The U is looking like it's back," said Klatt. "How about Miami going into the swamp and handling Florida?"

That performance certainly impressed Klatt, who immediately believes Miami is the top dog in the ACC for 2024.

"What I saw was a team that was, I think, easily the best team in the ACC," he asserted. "That was made abundantly clear with what happened with all the results over the start of college football."

Other ACC contenders didn't perform so hot to open the year. Florida State dropped their Week 0 game to Georgia Tech, Clemson got walloped by Georgia and Virginia Tech lost to Vanderbilt in overtime.

Louisville looked good, but take away what you will from a 62-0 beatdown of an FCS school. If they are Miami's top competition in conference, the Hurricanes may finally be on track to make their first College Football Playoff.

At that point, The U would be all the way back, much like Texas from last season.

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