Miami doesn't have the luxury of a 'rivalry game' in a year when FSU has nothing to offer

The Miami-FSU game is a big rivalry, and anything can happen in rivalry games. But sometimes, the only one thing that needs to happen in a rivalry is what's supposed to happen, and, in this case, that's Miami blowing FSU off the field.

A close, hard-fought game isn't in the cards for the Hurricanes. There will be no "throw out the record books" or "Miami vs. FSU means more." Nope, not in 2026, when Miami is an S-tier program and FSU is scraping the bottom of the barrel and trying to figure out how to escape from Mike Norvell.

That's similar to what former Hurricanes linebacker DJ Williams said when he was a guest on Freddie Stevenson's podcast. As expected, the former 'Cane and 'Nole had some friendly banter back and forth, and it's all pretty entertaining if you decide to give it a listen. But Williams' point needs to be taken seriously — Miami has to put up big numbers and finish off a fragile FSU program.

Miami has nothing to gain from beating FSU in 2026

The programs are in such different directions that this game feels about as important as playing Boston College — it's a game that Miami has to win, but it offers no upside. If the Hurricanes blow out FSU, that's what they were supposed to do, and if the game is closer than expected, then it leads to questions about the schedule and Miami's level of play as it heads into a tougher second half of the slate.

That can be a tough psychological issue to overcome. Normally, Miami vs. FSU speaks for itself, and you expect a close game. There have been many occasions when both programs are down a little, but the game took on a life of its own and became something special. However, those were different times when there was no question about the investment that each player and coach from both teams had in this game.

I just don't see the investment from FSU's end. The Seminoles have a few players, like Ousmane Kromah and Duce Robinson, but the players on Norvell's roster just don't seem to have the pushback or the pride Miami fans expect to see from the Seminoles.

And Cristobal has the Hurricanes treating it all with a very professional mindset. Miami doesn't get too high or too low and the Hurricanes are continuing to build for what they hope will be another strong playoff run and an ACC championship. 

It might seem like I'm downplaying Miami-FSU, and that's not the case because the game's history and prestige are well documented. But I am downplaying the Seminoles as a threat because they simply have nothing that the Hurricanes should be worried about.

Rivalries are usually fun games, but in this edition of Miami-FSU, the Hurricanes need to take care of business decisively, avoid more injuries and move on to bigger challenges. 

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