Miami Hurricanes: Russell Athletic Bowl-Bound

After what appears to be a little meddling by the ACC’s head honcho, the Miami Hurricanes are headed to Orlando instead of Atlanta.

Rumor has it ACC commissioner John Swofford lobbied the Chick-fil-A Bowl to select the Duke Blue Devils over the Miami Hurricanes, in order to keep the Coastal Champions from falling to a much less desirable game.

Had Miami been Atlanta-bound, Virginia Tech would’ve likely wound up in the Russell Athletic Bowl, while Duke would’ve slipped all the way to the Belk Bowl in Charlotte, where they’d have taken on the Cincinnati Bearcats.

For those who see Swofford’s actions as meddling, in reality it paints the conference president in a positive light. After topping both Virginia Tech and Miami in an unprecedented 10-win season, Duke deserves better than getting leapfrogged by programs with bigger football names.

This is the same Swofford that went to bat for Miami during the NCAA investigation and he’s now said to be taking up for another team with in his conference—a deserving squad, no less. That deserves kudos, not criticism.

As a result, Miami now gets a crack at Teddy Bridgewater and the Louisville Cardinals as the Hurricanes will play their first bowl game since the 2010 season.

The Russell Athletic Bowl takes place on Saturday December 28th at 6:45 p.m. ET at the Citrus Bowl. Most-recently known as the Champs Sports Bowl, this was originally the Blockbuster, Carquest, MicronPC and Mazda Bowl, between 1990 and 2011.

The Hurricanes last appearance in the Champs Sports Bowl game in 2009 when a 9-3 Miami squad fell to Wisconsin, 20-14.

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