ESPN wants Miami-FSU on Labor Day again

by Kartik Krishnaiyer
Canes Rising Staff

This morning the Miami Herald reported that UM and FSU were considering moving next year's football game to Labor Day. The game was played on Labor Day from 2004 to 2006. After speaking with a highly placed network source today I can report that the offer was initiated by ESPN to move the game to Labor Day. The source told me the four of the five highest rated College Football telecasts ever on ESPN have involved Miami, and that airing other ACC teams in place of Miami on either Labor Day or Thanksgiving the last few years has not worked out from a ratings standpoint.

Here are the top 5 ESPN rated games ever based on overnight nielsons:

ESPN's Top 5 Rated College Football Games All Time

1) Florida State @ Miami, 2006 10.9
2) Miami @ Virginia Tech, 2005 7.7
3) Florida State @ Miami, 1994 7.4
4) Notre Dame @ Michigan State, 2004 6.9
5) Miami @ Florida, 2008 6.2

The above chart tells the story. Despite the obvious drop off in the standard of Miami's program, Miami still draws a TV audience bigger than most college programs outside of South Bend or Los Angeles.

From a TV standpoint Miami-FSU alone on a national holiday makes sense. But from a football standpoint it would be a disaster. The last five games between the two teams have been poorly played. The 2004-2006 editions on Labor Day were unwatchable and filled with first game jitters. The 2007 and 2008 games while high scoring have been mistake filled encounters where neither team deserved to win, but somebody had to. While the ACC this season boasts a 6-4 record against the SEC, two of the loses were by Miami and FSU against in state rival Florida. In both games the ACC team was outclassed, and quite frankly embarrassed in front of a national TV audience. Miami had its worst offensive output in close to 30 years against Florida this season, and yet that was the better of the two performances by ACC teams against Gators. FSU was flat out humiliated every way a football team could be this past Saturday.

Another factor that may prompt the movement of this game is that due to Baseball scheduling, next season's Miami-Oklahoma game at Dolphin Stadium is likely to be played in October. It's possible the dates of the two games are simply going to be swapped with Miami playing Oklahoma the week before the OU-Texas game and instead playing FSU on Labor Day and moving FAMU to the second week of the season. I don't know that Bob Stoops is keen on playing Miami and Texas in consecutive weeks, but Oklahoma unlike some other top national programs doesn't duck opponents so expect OU to come all guns blazing next year into Miami.

We should have more on this story in the upcoming weeks.