Trouble on Tobacco Road: Does Miami Belong in the ACC?

When Miami joined the ACC I feared this would happen, but didn't realize the extent to which it would. Unlike Florida State whose entrance to the league in 1992 ushered in an era of hegemony unknown and still unseen in major conference football, Miami's entrance to the ACC has been rocky to say the least. In 2004 I predicted Miami would lose to NC State and Virginia both. While Miami won both games, they lost at North Carolina. The reality is Miami's record against what I would call the "traditional ACC" on the road stinks. The traditional ACC consists of the four North Carolina schools, Virginia, Clemson and Maryland. In those venues Miami has one decisive victory (2005 @ Wake), four close wins (2004 @ NC State, 2004 @ UVA, 2005 @ Clemson and 2006 @ Duke) and has four losses (2004 and 2007 @ North Carolina, 2006 @ Maryland, 2006 @ Virginia). What has become obvious is that despite all the bluster from many Miami fans that the program can go anywhere, anytime and win, Tobacco road has proven to be a much more difficult nut to crack for the Canes than even trips out West and to the bitter cold of Northeast. While Miami's schedules were always tough in the 1980s and early 1990s, those teams had a major advantage in speed except when facing Florida State and an advantage in game planning except when playing Florida State and BYU.

Then Miami joined the Big East and with the exception of a handful of games on the road (@ West Virginia, @ Virginia Tech, @ Syracuse from 1992 thru 1998) Miami didn't face much adversity on the road. Besides, the trips to places where Miami had a large alumni base and where many of the opposing fans had not resented the inclusion of Miami in the league was about as easy as road trips get. Then Miami joined the ACC, and thanks to the superior mentality of a lot of Miami fans who never understood conference football or the value of winning a league title, Miami has proven to be easy pickings for the better ACC schools and a realistic upset opportunity for even the bottom feeders in the league. While it is beyond fashionable to blame Larry Coker for Miami's recent failings, many Miami fans need to look themselves in the mirror and understand why their team and their program was so arrogant in how it approached tough in-conference road trips.