Despite Miami’s return to college football relevance, Hurricane Cristobal might not be a metaphor in 2026
Cristobal’s Hurricanes are surging on the field, but his namesake might be on a real one this fall.
The Miami Hurricanes have enjoyed a national resurgence on the football field over the last two seasons under head coach Mario Cristobal.
2024 Heisman Trophy finalist shattered school passing records in his lone season in Coral Gables and helped Miami reach 10 wins while just missing the College Football Playoff. That was just a prelude for 2025, when Carson Beck, a physical ground game, and a vicious defense got Miami all the way to the national championship game.
The Hurricanes have turned into a force under Cristobal, and they should be an early national championship contender in 2206. However, the name Cristobal likely will have a very different meaning regarding hurricanes this year.
Hurricane Cristobal is a likely weather occurrence during 2026 hurricane season
The names of hurricanes according to the National Hurricane Center with include “Cristobal” in 2026. As the center has a name for most letters of the alphabet (excluding Q, U, X, Y, and Z) for a potential storm, the name Cristobal is listed for the letter C this year. As the storms are named alphabetically, the third hurricane of the season would be named Hurricane Cristobal.
By point of reference, according to the National Hurricane Center’s storm table, there hasn’t been less than three hurricanes in a year since 2013, when there were two. As such, if history is any indicator, it’s very likely we will see an actual Hurricane Cristobal sweeping across the Atlantic Ocean and/or Gulf of Mexico later this year.
There’s no doubt that the Miami Hurricanes are becoming a force in the college football world that programs from coast to coast are going to have to deal with. However, it would be great if “Cristobal” and “hurricane” would be limited to just wreaking havoc on football fields this fall.
College Football
Mario Cristobal claps back at Kirby Smart with a hilarious Carson Beck dig during a lively Steve Spurrier Awards ceremony
The marquee coaches had some fun at each other’s expense.
