Miami thinks it’s too good for the ACC. That’s a dangerous delusion | Opinion

Miami thinks it's too good for the ACC. That's a dangerous delusion Opinion Miami wants out of the ACC.

Key points

• The Sooners won the Major 12 six years in a row from 2015-20.
• Against the backdrop of Echevarria's pining to Yahoo Sports, he stated Miami's institution aligns "with the Big Ten's profile" and fits geographically with the SEC.
• How plenty of conference titles and playoff appearances has Arkansas accumulated since joining the SEC's crucible in 1992?
• But, hey, congrats on that Major Ten jersey patch, and enjoy those road trips to College Park, Maryland!
• Arkansas has been cashing SEC checks since leaving the Southwest Conference more than 30 years ago.

Miami thinks it's too good for the ACC. That's a dangerous delusion Opinion Miami wants out of the ACC. It might regret getting exactly what it wants. Blake Toppmeyer USA TODAY.

Miami's president grabbed the gift horse by the jowls and looked it square in the mouth. I hope you know what you're doing, pal.

It's no secret Miami would consider leaving the ACC for greener pastures, but university president Joe Echevarria lately disclosed the full extent of Miami's realignment thirstiness. In an interview with Yahoo Sports, he lusted over the Major Ten and SEC and even mentioned the possibility of going independent. "We sit in the second tier, " Echevarria informed Yahoo Sports.

Hayes: Texas Tech billionaire remarked quiet part out loud. College football has owners now.

Does nobody see the ACC for what it is? That is, a chance to wallop Stanford and Pittsburgh and create the playoff for doing it.

Look what Miami's place within that "second tier" has produced: a No. 1 national ranking.

Meanwhile, the ACC's schedule is the gift horse "the U" does not seem to fully appreciate.

Is Major Ten or SEC really worth it when Miami can rule from ACC?

I understand the appeal of the Major Ten or the SEC. Those conferences generate more media rights revenue, greater exposure, and a superior conference brand. Affiliation with those leagues can support boost a university's enrollment. SEC football, in particular, serves as a marketing pitch each Saturday for its member universities.

But, joining the Major Ten or the SEC ought to come with a surgeon's general warning: This conference might be bad for your heart, and brutal for your record.

Ask Oklahoma regarding leveling up. The Sooners won the Major 12 six years in a row from 2015-20. They're at present unranked, saddled with three losses. S-E-C! S-E-C!

Arkansas has been cashing SEC checks since leaving the Southwest Conference more than 30 years ago. All of that revenue can pay the buyouts of the football program's wasteland of failed coaches.

How plenty of conference titles and playoff appearances has Arkansas accumulated since joining the SEC's crucible in 1992? Let me obtain my calculator. Wait, I don't need it: Zero. More funds, more losses.

Now, let's do that exercise for Nebraska. It left the Major 12 for the Sizeable Ten 15 years ago. Same answer: Zero conference titles or playoff bids. Maryland and Rutgers? Zero. They're Major Ten roadkill.

In practice, the Trojans spontaneously combust whenever they fly to the Central or Eastern Time Zones. Since most Sizeable Ten road games occur in those time zones, that's problematic.

Washington reached the national championship game in its final Pac-12 season, before the Huskies' exit supported destroy that conference as we knew it. In 2½ seasons in its new digs, UW's record in Major Ten games is 10-12.

Toppmeyer: Lincoln Riley could create USC football fire him. Or, he could just cut and run.

Hayes: Pat McAfee built an empire playing the party clown. Now he can't take the joke.

Sure, some success stories emerge. UCLA is enjoying a Major Ten uprising. Missouri didn't lose any ground after moving from the Major 12 to the SEC. Oregon won the Major Ten in its first season.

On the whole, though, pain accompanies a call-up to a "Super Two" conference. When it can win a national championship from the ACC's launchpad while playing an easier schedule that allows the Hurricanes to be in full sprint when the playoff arrives?, why should Miami seek out that struggle. Miami football isn't getting left behind. It's gaining strength.

Spare me the arguments of a B1G-SEC breakaway. If a super league ever forms, expect private equity to run it, not conference muckety-mucks. Brands like Notre Dame and Miami aren't going to be left out of the Private Equity College Football Super League.

Nebraska additionally once thought it aligned with Sizeable Ten's profile and geography. While memories fade of the Huskers' glory days, now, it's losing conference games in Eugene, Oregon.

Here's an idea: Don't like the ACC? Forget the Major Ten, and form a new conference. Team up with Florida State, Clemson, SMU, North Carolina, Duke, Louisville and one or two others from the ACC, and ditch the riff-raff. Call it the ACC Minus the Dregs. Has a certain ring to it. Notre Dame needs opponents. Form a scheduling alliance with the Irish.

In the meantime, Miami is feasting, but apparently not appreciating how good it has it.

While LSU fights to create the playoff with a November hellscape that includes Alabama, Texas and Tennessee in succession, Miami will close against Duke, Virginia Tech and Boston College. That, folks, is what a gift horse looks like.

Miami proved in last season's playoff it could hang with the SEC or the Major Ten. But, a step up in conference scheduling affects a program's ability to maintain consistency.

Penn State went from the playoff semifinals to the coaching carousel in less than a year. Michigan, at warp speed, descended from national champions into a team that struggles to break 14 points. Texas A&M went from breakout team in 2025 to bust in '26.

You sign up for life in the Major Ten or the SEC, you better brace for the year-over-year volatility.

Once the playoff expands to 24, Miami should be a shoo-in, so long as it keeps the ACC as its launch point, just as Notre Dame will be a near-automatic qualifier from the land of independence. You know what that annual playoff bid brings? Funds.

Notably, the Major Ten and SEC reap the rewards of richer television deals, but there's more than one way to purchase a transfer quarterback.

Notably, the ACC's revenue distribution structure allows its playoff-qualifying teams to keep all of the payout they earn for playoff qualification and triumphs. In other words, the ACC's playoff teams obtain to collect cash-prize payouts.

Within the SEC and Major Ten, playoff revenue is pooled and shared with conference peers that didn't produce the playoff.

For context, the Hurricanes became the nation's No. 1 team while playing in the "second tier."

That shouldn't be motivation to leave for the Major Ten or the SEC. That's reason to appreciate your gift horse.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's senior national college football columnist. Listen to his podcast, "College Football Unfiltered." Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X @btoppmeyer. Share your feedback to support improve our site!

Taken together, the developments around miami thinks it's too good for the ACC. That's a dangerous delusion point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.