It's year three of the Mario Cristobal era, and Miami Hurricanes fans and beginning to get antsy. It's been more than two decades since they've been in the national title picture, with the last national championship in 2001. That's an eternity in college football, and the pressure is mounting under the head coach even though he's an alum.
So there's optimism, but it's cautious optimism as Miami is coming off a 7-6 season and the coach is 12-13 overall. That the Hurricanes haven't been able to make a more significant move when the ACC seems to be kind of down as a conference hasn't helped, but the schedule is more favorable this season as it avoids Clemson during the regular season and gets Florida State at home.
Of course, the Seminoles opened the season last weekend with a high-profile loss against Georgia Tech in Dublin, which some believe was a strong sign that we're in for a crazy regular season and wide open conference. Maybe we are. Overall, though, there's a lot for everyone to get accustomed to, and on numerous levels.
Welcome to the longest season in college football history, starting earlier and ending later, with plenty to fill in between. Here's a primer to get you through the changes minus all the player movement through the transfer portal:
Miami Hurricanes
• Miami was in the preseason AP Top 25 for the third time in four years, and the fifth time since 2017. However, only one of those teams actually finsihed ranked, and it was coached by Mark Richt. Before that, one has to go all the way back to 2005 and Larry co*ker.
• For the first time since 2017, Miami has the same head coach and offensive and defensive coordinators returning.
• The Hurricanes had four players selected in the NFL draft, led by defensive back Kamren Kinchens in the third round. The other three were all seventh-round selections.
• Miami lost a lot of depth in the transfer portal, but pick up seven players who are expected to start Week 1 at Florida including quarterback Cam Ward from Washington State. He threw for 3,732 yards last season, but he also had 12 fumbles and seven passes picked off. He could have a huge season if he can just minimize the turnovers. The line should be a big plus again this year, so don't be surprised if running back Damien Martinez has a big season.
• There's real potential for the defense to get significantly better as the season progresses. The depth chart reads very differntly from a year ago and it could take some time for things to start to really click. The guy we're keeping a eye on is NC State transfer CJ Clark, who can be strong anchor up front.
Re-alignment
• SEC: Added Texas and Oklahoma.
• Big Ten: The 18-team league added Oregon, USC, UCLA and Washington.
• Big 12: The 16-team league now includes Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah.
• ACC: The 16-team league goes coast-to-coast after adding Cal and Stanford, along with SMU. The travel alone is going to take some getting used to.
• Pac-12: All that’s left are Oregon State and Washington State.
• Army has joined the American Athletic Conference. However, the Army-Navy game will remain a non-conference game.
No more divisions
The one exception is the Sun Belt, which still has an East and West Division. Meanwhile, the SEC recently announced the following tiebreakers:
1.Head-to-head competition among the tied teams.
2. Record versus all common conference opponents among the tied teams.
3. Record against highest-placed common conference opponent in the conference standings, and proceeding through the conference standings among the tied teams.
4. Cumulative conference winning percentage of all conference opponents among the tied teams.
5. Capped relative total scoring margin versus all conference opponents among the tied teams.
6. Random draw of the tied teams.
College Football Playoff
• The playoff is expanding from four to 12 teams.
•First round games will be Dec. 20-21 on college campuses. The quarterfinals will be at the Fiesta, Peach, Rose and Sugar Bowls on Dec. 31-Jan. 1. The semifinals will be at the Orange and Cotton Bowls on Jan. 9-10. The National Championship Game is set for Jan. 20 in Atlanta.
•The first CFP rankings will be revealed on Nov. 5, at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN. The subsequent rankings will be announced on every Tuesday through the Dec. 3, with the selection show set for Sunday, Dec. 8, the day after the final conference championship games are played.
The selection committee members are:
Chris Ault(former head coach and athletics director, University of Nevada)
Chet Gladchuk(athletics director, U.S. Naval Academy)
Jim Grobe(former head coach, Ohio University, Wake Forest and Baylor)
Warde Manuel(chair) (athletics director, University of Michigan)
Randall McDaniel(College and Pro Football Hall of Fame member and former All-American offensive lineman, Arizona State University)
Gary Pinkel(former head coach, University of Toledo and University of Missouri)
Mack Rhoades(athletics director, Baylor University)
Mike Riley(former college head coach, Oregon State and Nebraska, as well as head coach in the NFL, CFL, WLAF, AAF and USFL; played collegiately at Alabama 1971-74)
DavidSayler(athletics director, Miami University, OH)
Will Shields(College and Pro Football Hall of Fame member and former All-American offensive lineman, University of Nebraska)
Kelly Whiteside(professor in Sports Media and Journalism, Montclair State University; longtime sportswriter, USA Today, Sports Illustrated and Newsday)
Carla Williams(athletics director, University of Virginia)
Hunter Yurachek(athletics director, University of Arkansas).
Rule changes
• The two-minute warning has been added to college football, during the second and fourth quarters, just like in the NFL.
• Teams have the option to use coach-to-player communications through the helmet to one player on the field. That player will be identified by having a green dot on the back midline of the player's helmet. The communication will be cut off when the play clock reaches 15 seconds or at the snap, whichever comes first.
• Coaches will be allowed to conduct broadcast TV interviews at the end of the first and third quarters of games.
• Video tablets will be allowed on the sideline. Video may include coach's sideline, coach's end zone, and a program feed per play from the current game only and may also display "game circ*mstances," including down / distance, time, quarter, play-number and score. A team may have up to 18 standard tablets active,
• Horse-collar tackles that occur within the tackle box will be penalized as a 15-yard personal foul penalty. Previously, a horse-collar tackle within the tackle box is not a foul.
Also, the limit on the number of coaches who can do hands-on, on-field coaching during practice and games has been lifted. Previously, only the 10 assistant coaches were allowed (analysts, etc, were banned).
Television
• The SEC game of the week is no longer on CBS, those games will now be seen on ESPN and ABC.
• The Big Ten will have three national windows with a game on Fox at 11 a.m. CT), CBS at 2:30 p.m., and NBC for a prime time game.
• Fox is breaking the unwritten rule of leaving high school football along on Friday nights and will broadcast a national game.
• The remaining teams in the Pac-12 have a broadcast deal with The CW, and the Mountain West will have games on truTV.
Saban beiung on College GameDay is great for fans in gneral in that everyhone else gets to hear many of the stories he's been telling in Tuscaloosa since 2007. Another major plus for fans is that kickoff times for most games will be announced well in advance, unlike previous seasons.
How To Watch: No. 19 Miami at Florida; Full Week 1 College Football TV Schedule
