Miami president speaks candidly on possibility of UM joining SEC/Big Ten or going independent
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The Miami Hurricanes are the football class of the ACC. They were — and still are — a massive favorite to win the conference’s regular season championship. They were the only ACC team to make the College Football Playoff in 2025. Beyond their 95.0% probability, only Wake Forest (39.4%) has CFP odds above 2%, per ESPN’s Football Power Index.
Miami believes it deserves more say in CFP expansion and more money for its football endeavors. That’s why, according to university president Joe Echevarria, outsiders “cannot lock [the Hurricanes] into a conference.”
“As an [Association of American Universities] research institution, we line up with the Big Ten’s profile,” Echevarria told Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger. “We have an exceptionally strong profile that compares favorably with leading research institutions across the country. On the geography idea, we line up better with the SEC.”
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Echevarria says Miami “maxed out in revenue” under the ACC’s sharing model in 2025-26. Despite winning “about every game you could win,” the Hurricanes “made the same amount of money” as SEC and Big Ten schools who “operate at different levels of [football] investment and performance.” That has him considering the Notre Dame route of independence, even though that decision could be drastic for the school’s non-football athletic teams.
“If we have to go independent, I like our chances because we are a national brand,” Echevarria expressed. “I wouldn’t like to do that because scheduling [other sports] is really tough. It’s great for football but what about track, volleyball and the golf team?”
For better or worse, Echevarria knows football moves the financial needle for colleges. He also said Miami is “proud” to be in the ACC. The current sports climate, unfortunately, is forcing his hand.
“If the economics were even, we wouldn’t be having any of these conversations… [but] we sit in the second tier,” Echevarria admitted. “It’s a reason we don’t get a vote on the 24-team playoff and the Big Ten and SEC do.”
There’s a fine line Echevarria has to walk as he explores all avenues for the Hurricanes. In the meantime, Miami will battle the Pittsburgh Panthers on Saturday (noon ET, ESPN).
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