The College of Miami and the School Soccer Playoff are engaged on a contingency plan to account for a potential Laborious Rock Stadium scheduling battle if the Hurricanes make the playoff and earn a first-round dwelling recreation.
LaLiga, Spain’s top-flight soccer league, formally introduced its plans final week to carry the Barcelona-Villarreal recreation in Miami on Dec. 20 — the identical day as the primary spherical of the CFP.
The CFP’s prime 4 seeds earn a first-round bye, and the upper seeds host a first-round dwelling recreation. With Miami’s loss to Louisville on Friday night time, the Hurricanes’ probabilities of incomes a bye dropped considerably, however the potential for internet hosting a house recreation elevated.
Miami offered an announcement to ESPN on Sunday concerning the ongoing conversations.
“Laborious Rock Stadium developed an operational plan ought to the stadium host each a LaLiga recreation and a College of Miami CFP first-round recreation the weekend of December nineteenth and twentieth,” the varsity stated. “We’ll proceed to refine and evaluate the plan and finally meet the wants and goals of the CFP pending remaining scheduling of each occasions.”
With the soccer recreation scheduled for 10 a.m. ET, the Hurricanes may host the CFP recreation at Laborious Rock Stadium later that night time. The sport additionally may transfer to a distinct day, however each of these choices would require some help from ESPN to discover a window that works.
The CFP administration committee, which consists of the10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua, has to approve the ultimate plan, however that is not anticipated for a number of weeks.
CFP officers expect Miami to offer them with an alternate location this week, and sources informed ESPN the college is contemplating Orlando, Florida — however that might be the worst-case situation.
There are nonetheless extra questions than solutions. LaLiga gamers have lately protested the league’s choice to carry a regular-season recreation in Miami, and, after all, the Hurricanes have but to make the playoff.
This is not the primary time a college has needed to give you a playoff contingency plan. In 2024, the primary yr of the 12-team discipline, Kansas athletic director Travis Goff stated that if the Jayhawks earned a first-round dwelling recreation, it must be performed at Kansas Metropolis’s Arrowhead Stadium due to building on the faculty’s on-campus stadium.