Could future Miami football schedule hinder Playoff hopes?

Tom Fornelli of CBSSports.Com studied non-conference road games of the nine schools that have made the first four college football playoffs and the average by each power five conference. The Miami football team has played a higher number of non-conference away games.

The title of Fornelli’s article is “True nonconference road games prove hazardous to College Football Playoff hopes.” with the subtitle “A look at true nonconference road games during the College Football Playoff era.”  How will the Miami football team’s future schedule impact their hopes for a Playoff berth?

Both conference schedules and non-conference schedules and where those games are played have been impactful on who gets invited to the playoff according to Fornelli. The ACC and SEC are the only two of the Power Five Conferences to play an eight-game conference schedule.

The ACC and SEC are also the only two conferences to receive bids to all four College Football Playoffs. Some might say that’s because Clemson and Alabama are in the ACC and SEC. Clemson actually missed the first College Football Playoff. Florida State won the ACC in 2014, the first year of the playoff.

Fornelli believes that the ACC and SEC receiving a bid in each of the first four playoffs was more about the schedule and less about who is in each conference.

"“Is it a coincidence that the three Power Five conferences that play a nine-game conference schedule are the only three conferences to miss the CFP at least once? Statistically, it’s too soon to tell, but my gut tells me it’s not.”"

Teams are more often scheduling big non-conference games at neutral sites. The Miami football team will play LSU in Arlington, Texas this season, Florida in Orlando in 2019 and Alabama in 2021.

The Hurricanes also travel to Toledo this season. It’s the third year in a row Miami has a non-conference road game scheduled against a Group of Five team.