Week 6 in college football looks to be one of the best, with a trio of big-time games taking place. The Deep South’s Oldest rivalry will be in Athens, this past year’s national championship moves from Houston to Seattle, while Clemson and Florida State may be playing an early preview of the ACC Championship.
All three of those have massive College Football Playoff contributions for obvious reasons.
ESPN’s Greg McElroy wanted to look in a different direction, though. He found an underrated game from a CFP perspective for the week, picking Miami‘s first trip out West in the new-look ACC. Cal will be playing host in what could absolutely be a tough battle for Mario Cristobal‘s squad.
“Don’t sleep on this one,” McElroy began. “Miami at Cal. That game very well could be played at 10:30 Eastern time. Miami’s got to travel all the way cross country and play at 10:30 potentially. That’s going to be a challenge on their body clock… Don’t sleep on a tough road game for Miami at Cal.”
Just last season we saw a team play Cal in Berkeley with a 10:30 p.m. ET kickoff. Auburn traveled there for the nonconference. While they are located in the Central Time Zone and are an hour ahead of what Miami will be, it still took a toll on the players.
“We just got to be very careful not to get our kids lethargic, laying around too much,” Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze said heading into the game. “ So, we’ve got a plan the days and our strength staff and nutritionists are doing a good job of giving me input on that, as to what they think it should look like. But, part of the challenge is going out there.”
Auburn escaped with a four-point win but was sloppy on offense with just 230 total yards and four turnovers.
If the game does wind up being scheduled for late Saturday night, Miami will have to find a way to prepare. There is not much they can do to avoid their bodies being tired, it’s just part of moving over three time zones.
Luckily, there will be an extra day to prepare. Miami plays Virginia Tech the week before at home on a Friday night. Getting a full seven days to prepare for the trip will be a huge benefit. And who knows, they could be right in the thick of the early season CFP race.
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