Does Miami Have Caitlin Clark To Thank For Making It To The National Championship Game?

I know that headline sounds crazy, but hear me out.

The Miami Hurricanes have officially punched their ticket to the National Championship game. Their match up against Ole Miss in the College Football Playoffs semifinals was a game for the ages, but ultimately ended with the University of Miami emerging victorious.

After a 31-27 win, the Canes now get to play at home with a title on the line:

Quarterback Carson Beck had a great showing, and Miami wide receiver Malachi Toney was incredible. It was also a wonderfully coached contest by Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal. But what if I told you that Miami has one athlete to thank for making it to the national championship game, and it’s someone who hasn’t ever suited up for the Hurricanes?

I’m talking about Caitlin Clark, of course.

Before I get too deep into this wild chain reaction, I can’t take the credit for coming up with it. It was actually a Miami Hurricanes fan that connected all of the dots, and made a rather convincing argument that current WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark had a lot to do with the Canes making it to the National Championship in 2026.

Here’s his post from 2025 shortly after “The U” landed former Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Carson Beck:

“Let’s all thank Caitlin Clark for absolutely torching Hailey Van Lith in March, which led to her transferring from LSU to TCU, which was going to cut in HALEY Cavinder’s playing time, which led the Cavinder twins BACK to Miami… which led to Carson Beck following his girlfriend (to Miami).”

Let’s look further into that, shall we?

The story apparently starts all the way back in 2024, when Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes played Hailey Van Lith and the LSU Tigers in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. Clark dropped 41 points and hit 9 threes to send Hailey Van Lith and LSU home. Once the LSU star’s season was over, she decided to transfer to TCU.

That’s where Haley Cavinder, who played the same position as Van Lith, was set to play the following season.

The one half of the Cavinder twins (which now lead a life of social media influencers) decided that, with Hailey Van Lith playing at TCU, she should transfer back to the University of Miami. Haley and her twin sister Hanna had played there previously, and actually announced the end of their basketball careers there in 2023 before Haley decided to un-retire and commit to TCU.

Hanna was actually going to remain in retirement, but when her sister decided to play once more for the Hurricanes, she decided to do so as well. So the Cavinder twins both set out to end their collegiate careers with Miami during the 2024-25 season, and in the summer of 2024, Hanna Cavinder and then Georgia quarterback Carson Beck were linked together as a couple.

As the Cavinder twins were playing their last season of college basketball, Beck was doing his best to lead the Georgia Bulldogs to a national title. But after sustaining an injury late in the season, he was shut down for the year… and surprised basically everyone when he decided to enter the transfer portal instead of declaring for the NFL Draft.

Where did he end up transferring? Well, his girlfriend at the time happened to be at the University of Miami (she came out of retirement to play there), and the Hurricanes were in need of a quarterback for the 2025-26 season. So once Beck got an offer from Miami, he decided to go where his significant other was playing. Beck and Cavinder even lived with one another for a short time, but they ultimately broke up in the spring of 2025.

Though they split, Beck stayed with the Miami Hurricanes. And if you then fast forward to January of 2026, Carson Beck has helped lead Miami to the national championship game after barely making the College Football Playoff. Thus, Caitlin Clark embarrassing a fellow college basketball star in 2024 could potentially translate into a National Championship for the University of Miami.

Social media says it all checks out:

The Caitlin Clark Effect

— suspiria1966 (@idrinkcoffeeblk) January 11, 2025

Quite the butterfly effect

— tigh eatmon (@tigh187) January 11, 2025

This isn’t even a reach either, pretty much exactly what happened

— JKrom (@Jkrom11) January 11, 2025

pic.twitter.com/n48BGW9FAb

— Jason Lemieux (@Le_Worst) January 11, 2025

My head hurts, but this is quite accurate https://t.co/Bp1oMLfMK8

— Scott Garrard (@ScottyGZone) January 9, 2026

Miami fans should get those “Thank You” cards ready to send to Caitlin Clark if the Hurricanes do, in fact, end the year by raising up the championship trophy.The post Does Miami Have Caitlin Clark To Thank For Making It To The National Championship Game? first appeared on Whiskey Riff.