CORAL GABLES – Miami is ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 national poll for the 19th consecutive time.

But in all honesty, the streak might have been in jeopardy had the Hurricanes not made a dent in the fourth quarter of their 33-17 loss to the LSU Tigers on Sept. 2.

With the loss, Miami (0-1) dropped a whopping 14 spots from No. 8 to No. 22, which was the largest slide out of any FBS college football program. Meanwhile, LSU (1-0) shot up an eye-opening 14 spots from No. 25 to No. 11 in its takedown of Miami – the greatest gainer out of all FBS teams.

Despite the loss, Miami is in great shape to extend its AP Poll appearance streak for at least a few more weeks. The defending ACC Coastal champion’s next four opponents are Savannah State (Sept. 8 at home), Toledo (Sept. 15 on the road), FIU (Sept. 22 at home), and North Carolina (Sept. 27 at home) – all games that the Hurricanes will be favored to win.

Should Miami win the next four games, it will be at home against in-state and ACC rival Florida State (0-1) with a 4-1 record and a chance to get into or near the AP Top 10 again.

It was only Week 1 of the regular season. We have plenty of football left to play in the season, which means that anything can happen from this point forward.