Betting expert predicting big 2024 season for Miami Hurricanes

Last season was a disappointment for the Miami Hurricanes, there's no doubt about it.

In head coach Mario Cristobal's second season, the Hurricanes barely improved from his inaugural campaign which saw them go 5-7.

Miami did finish with a winning record, 7-6, but the Hurricanes lost six of their last nine games, including a bowl game loss to Rutgers of all programs.

This is a program that once was on top of the college football world — winning five national championships from 1983 to 2001 — so to go from that to losing to Rutgers in the Pinstripe Bowl? That's a pretty low "low" that Cristobal will likely only get one more chance to correct.

To that point, though, ESPN betting expert Joe Fortenbaugh does see Miami having a big season in 2024. In his ACC betting preview, he laid out why he believes Miami will hit the "over" on 9.5 wins this season.

"That collapse (last season's losing skid) motivated head coach Mario Cristobal to hit the portal harder than ever before, and he ended up scoring two highly coveted prizes in Washington State quarterback Cam Ward and Oregon State running back Damien Martinez," Fortenbaugh wrote .

"This year's schedule sets up incredibly well for a bounce-back season, as the Florida State game takes place in Coral Gables and the road slate offers up Florida, South Florida, California, Louisville, Georgia Tech and Syracuse. That's not going to conjure up any nightmares, especially when you consider the fact that the only back-to-back road dates (at California, at Louisville) feature a bye week between them."

As Fortenbaugh mentioned, Ward and Martinez alone are big pickups. Ward threw for 6,966 yards and 48 touchdowns (16 interceptions) in the past two seasons for Washington State while also adding 13 touchdowns on the ground.

For his part, Martinez had 1,185 yards and nine touchdowns last season for Oregon State and he notched 16 touchdowns total over two years for the Beavers.

Both could be big-time playmakers for Miami this season, but it all comes down to whether or not Cristobal can "coach 'em up" and avoid another disappointing season.