As previously reported, Miami and South Carolina mutually agreed to cancel their 2026 and 2027 home and home series due to the ACC and SEC’s imminent expansion to nine conference games per season. While
the SEC is set to begin playing nine conference games next year, the ACC’s expansion is expected to start with the 2027 season.
For Miami, this means that it has 11 games scheduled in 2026 (8 conference games + Florida A&M, Central Michigan, and Notre Dame) and in 2027 (9 conference games + Utah and Troy). Assuming that the ACC conference game expansion in fact starts in 2027, it would appear that Miami could use a replacement for South Carolina to bring them up to 12 games. And as this year is proving, Miami needs at least two premier non-conference games to offset what’s always a milquetoast ACC schedule.
Here are the Top 5 suggestions:
No. 5 – Pick a PAC Team
Next year begins the new, watered down version of the PAC…8? It will be an eight-team conference, meaning each team will have seven conference games and could schedule up to five non-conference games. No team has more than four non-conference games presently scheduled according to fbschedules.com.
Several PAC teams could be reasonably competitive next year. Washington State should at least be bowl-bound and just put a scare into Ole Miss, Boise State is a perennial G5 playoff contender, and Dan Mullen has led a UNLV revival by guiding the Rebels to a 6-0 start. While none are as attractive of a matchup as most any SEC or Big Ten team, there are some respectable options here for Miami.
No. 4 – Illinois
The Fighting Illini only have two non-conference games on their 2026 and 2027 schedules, so they’re a potential option. Illinois appears to be having a breakthrough under Bret Bielema. The boys from Champaign were 18-19 in Bielema’s first three years, but finished 10-3 last year and ranked 16th with a Citrus Bowl victory over, none other than, South Carolina.
Illinois appears to be trending upward and would likely be a Top 25 opponent for Miami, but it’s unclear if Illinois would be interested in scheduling the Hurricanes. They already have a P4 opponent on their schedule each year (Duke in 2026, Missouri in 2027) and it’s who knows if they’d be willing to add another. Most Big Ten schools not named Ohio State, Michigan, and USC tend to avoid tough non-conference games.
No. 3 – USC
Of all the Big Ten teams with only two non-conference games on the books, USC is both the best name and the most likely to actually schedule Miami. USC has stayed committed to their Notre Dame rivalry while sometimes scheduling an additional, high exposure game. For example, USC opened their inaugural Big Ten season last year against LSU.
USC is a traditional power that is flirting with renewed relevance. The Trojans are 5-1 and back in the AP Poll rankings, with a featured home win over Michigan. Illinois might be a better team than USC (they did beat USC, after all), but USC is definitely the higher profile contest that would produce better TV ratings. This would also probably be the first team that would be an upgrade over South Carolina, at least in terms of attracting a national spotlight.
No. 2 – Ole Miss
Not only do the Rebels have an open slot in 2026 and 2027, they currently do not have a P4 program scheduled as the SEC is mandating. Pairing these likely playoff contenders would be as a natural a fit as Lane Kiffin and Blue Martini. Not much more needs to be said about this possibility given how obviously attractive this matchup would be for both Miami and Ole Miss fans.
No. 1 – Anyone Above (2026) + Notre Dame (2027)
The Irish have to be a Top 3 rival for Miami and are already on Miami’s 2026 schedule, but rather than scheduling a home-and-home replacement for South Carolina, Miami could add a one-off neutral site contest in 2026 and another Notre Dame game in 2027. Miami has participated in these before, playing Alabama in Atlanta (2021), Florida in Orlando (2019), and LSU in Arlington, TX (2018). Miami is also scheduled to play a kickoff special in 2027 against Utah in Las Vegas.
Any of the above opponents would be a strong candidate for a sponsored 2026 kickoff game at a neutral site location. LSU is also theoretically an option since they only have two non-conference games next year, but one of those is Clemson and it would be surprising if LSU was willing to add a second high profile game.
