Is Miami even going to be able to play in the Sun Bowl vs. WSU?

Sports are once again showing that they are not insulated from the larger world around them, as the latest wave of Covid infections continues to disrupt leagues all over the planet.

That includes the Sun Bowl, in which the Washington State Cougars are scheduled to play on December 31 in El Paso, Texas, against the Miami Hurricanes.

Just one problem: Miami has a Covid outbreak in its program. In an attempt to cobble together a roster that can play in the game, the Hurricanes now will forego all the traditional bowl extracurriculars in the week leading up to the contest and instead arrive in Texas the day before the game.

“They wanted to know how we’d feel about them coming later,’’ Sun Bowl football chairman John Folmer told the Miami Herald. “We told them our position has not changed. We’re not looking for anyone else to play but Miami. The people in El Paso are buying tickets because of Miami. People in El Paso follow Miami. We want Miami no matter what.

“If the game was tomorrow or the next day we wouldn’t have them. We told them we’d wait until whenever they could get here, and they responded by saying, ‘We’re going to do the best we can to make it happen, and we’ll arrive when we can, even if it’s one day before the game.’ ”

As far as we know, WSU has no such issues with Covid.

According to the Herald:

The Hurricanes (7-5, 5-3 ACC) have had only two full practices for the bowl and have had walk-throughs the past two days, as well as virtual meetings. They were supposed to leave for Texas on a charter the day after Christmas.

If positive cases continue to escalate, it seems that there would be a chance that Miami would drop out of the game, as Texas A&M (Gator Bowl) already has done. If that were to happen, the 5-7 Texas Longhorns would seemingly have the opportunity to fill the slot, with Illinois next up after that.

Presuming, that is, that either of those teams could put a team back together during winter break.

Stay tuned!

Recruiting

Now here is an interesting prospect ...

LINKS

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