Playoff Teams? Missing Bowls? The Struggle Is Real.

Time Machine

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Will Ojanen @WillsWorldMN –

Before the season started, we would have looked at Saturday’s North Carolina-Miami game as the Coastal Division championship. Both teams entered the season in the top 15, and some people had North Carolina as a darkhorse playoff team. Unfortunately, neither has come close to achieving those expectations. UNC lost week one to Virginia Tech, and has struggled all season to protect Sam Howell, while the defense hasn’t been quite up to snuff. Miami proved their ranking was based off of name alone, as they were blown out by Alabama, barely beat Appalachian State, and lost to Michigan State and Virginia. 

But here’s the harsh reality: UNC currently sits at 4-3, and Miami 2-4. The Tar Heels have been one of the biggest disappointments in the country, for the reasons mentioned above. In reality, it was going to be difficult for Mack Brown to replace everything that was lost to the NFL, and expect them to continue to hum along. The Hurricanes have been dealing with a lot of internal issues. Some players were suspended early in the season, and there have been a lot of injury issues. 

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The schedules for both of these teams are tough the rest of the season. First, let’s take a look at the rest of UNC’s schedule:

At Notre Dame

Wake Forest

At Pitt

Wofford

At NC State

Playoff

I see one game where UNC wil be a favorite, and that’s Wofford. The road games are all going to be difficult, and even the Wake Forest game will be too, as they’re the only undefeated team left in the ACC. They need two wins for bowl eligibility. There’s only one lock.

Next, let’s look at Miami’s schedule:

NC State

At Pitt

Georgia Tech

At Florida State

Virginia Tech

At Duke

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At first glance, this looks manageable. The Hurricanes need four wins for bowl eligibility, though. They’ll be underdogs in the first two, and you could argue they’ll be favorites in the rest. But, the Georgia Tech and Florida State games will be difficult, as both teams run the ball well, and stopping the run is the weakness of the Miami defense. The Seminoles are peaking, and playing their best football of the season, now that they’ve gone to a predominant running game. 

I don’t think anyone could have expected this back in August, but it is definitely in play now. Forget about a playoff spot, the preseason Coastal favorites could both miss out on bowls this season. 

Playoff