Miami Hurricanes: ‘The U’ Is More Like ‘The E’ For Empty In Home Opener Vs. Bethune-Cookman

The University of Miami Hurricanes had their home opener on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. No, it was not an Atlantic Coast Conference game against the Florida State Seminoles or Clemson Tigers. It was not a rivalry game against the Florida Gators or Notre Dame Fighting Irish. It was against Bethune-Cookman.

And it was in front of about 300 people.

Is that what it has come to for ‘The U?’ Or should we call them ‘The E?’ E, of curse, being for empty.

I get that it was against a school who had no shot at making this a competitive game. It was against a school who many people had never heard of outside of the state of Florida. But this is still the Hurricanes. Does that mean nothing any more?

Apparently not.

Sure, the official attendance announced was just under 40,000. That is a Florida thing. The Miami Marlins always list their home baseball crowds as 25,000, but if they have one fifth of that it is really a big deal more often than not.

It has been quite some time that the Hurricanes have been one of the powerhouses in the college football landscape. It has been almost equally as long since they have been the best team in their own state. But this is embarrassing.

Miami is not the best team in the ACC. They are not the best team in Florida. The Gators are better. The Seminoles are much better. Heck, the Central Florida Knights and Florida Atlantic Owls and Florida International Golden Panthers may even be better.

And if the University of Tampa Spartans would possibly even be better. That is, if they still had a football team.

But for Miami to draw that small of a crowd at a home opener on a nice day is just wrong.

The fact that this is what the university has allowed the football program to become is even worse.

It is time for a change in Coral Gables, once and for all. This is something that should never happen again, and this change needs to start at the top and go all the way down.

It is time to bring back The U.