Miami Hurricanes could be hurt by Big 10 fall football season
The Miami Hurricanes postseason opportunities could be hindered if a report by Brett McMurphy of Audience is correct that the Big 10 will play an eight-game, nine-week schedule.
A report by Brett McMurphy of the Audience Channel that the Big 10 could play an eight-game, nine-week schedule could hurt postseason aspirations for the Miami Hurricanes. In a season of extreme uncertainty, a decision by the Big 10 to reverse course and play a schedule a quarter of what the ACC is playing is questionable.
The college football playoff and secondarily the bowl games would be put in a difficult position trying to determine how a schedule of eight games by the Big 10 would compare to 11 or 12 games (including conference championship games) ACC, Big 12 and SEC will play in 2020.
The Miami Hurricanes schedule became more difficult when the ACC increased the 2020 schedule from 12 games with eight intraconference to 11 games with only one non-conference game. Miami won their season opener 31-14 against UAB in their only non-conference game of 2020.
Miami begins ACC play at Louisville on Saturday night. The ACC eliminated the Atlantic and Coastal Divisions in 2020. The elimination of the divisions allowed the ACC to revise Miami’s 2020 schedule. The Hurricanes lost Duke and added Clemson, Louisville and North Carolina State, all on the road, this season.
The decision by the Big 10 and apparent ending of the season to occur right before the college football playoff was clear. Missing out on a chance to appear in the college football playoff and the money that brings was a likely motivation. In truth, other than Ohio State winning the first CFP title, the Big 10 has not been competitive.
When (if?) Big Ten announces plan to play football, 1st option is to play 8 games in 9 weeks, starting Oct. 16-17, sources told @Stadium. B1G title game would be Dec. 19, day before @CFBPlayoff final rankings. If can’t start Oct. 16-17, B1G would push back to following weekend
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) September 15, 2020
The Big 10 is 2-3 all-time, 0-3 since the first College Football Playoff in 2014-15. The 2017-18 and 2018-19 College Football Playoffs were without a Big 10 team. The ACC and SEC are the only two conferences to have participants every season of the College Football Playoff. The SEC placed Alabama and Georgia in the 2019 title game.
The Miami Hurricanes were only close to the College Football Playoff in 2017. Miami was second in the fourth release of the College Football Playoff rankings in 2017 when the Hurricanes started 10-0. A loss to Pittsburgh the following week and blowout defeat to Clemson in the ACC Championship game eliminated Miami.
The Hurricanes have not been the same since making that run. Having to play on the road at Clemson this season, Miami will have to run through the rest of its 2020 schedule undefeated to have a reasonable chance at earning a bid in the College Football Playoff. The Miami schedule is considerably tougher than the Big 10.
ACC needs 8 teams to finish 2020 season. dark. Next
Playing eight games instead of a 11 game season is not a comparison that will be equitable for the College Football Playoff committee to determine the four teams who will compete to play for a chance to earn a trip to Hard Rock Stadium for the National Championship January 11. The CFP is in an impossible situation.