Miami Hurricanes & FSU Still Run College Football This Week.

No GameDay? No Problem.

So much for ESPN College GameDay in Tallahassee. Florida State’s stumble at Virginia nuked the chance of the traveling circus parking its trucks outside Doak Campbell. Instead, the crew is heading to Tuscaloosa for Alabama-Vanderbilt.

Yeah. Vanderbilt. Let that marinate for a second.

It’s just another log on the fire for Hate Week.

GameDay choosing the SEC isn’t new. At this point, Rece Davis and Kirk Herbstreit probably have frequent flyer punch cards for Birmingham. It makes sense on paper — Alabama is back in the top 10, Vanderbilt’s undefeated, and last year’s upset gives it a revenge-game storyline. Fine.

But let’s not act like Miami-FSU isn’t the better show. This rivalry has carried college football headlines for decades. Even with FSU coughing up a double-overtime loss, this is still two ranked teams, still ACC playoff implications, still one of the nastiest rivalries in the sport.

Instead, ESPN punted on it. But here’s the thing: Miami doesn’t need GameDay to make a statement.

Hate Week Doesn’t Need Props

If you’ve ever lived through a Miami-FSU week, you know the energy is different. You don’t need celebrity guest pickers or bear costumes. You need the history:

• Wide Right I, II, and III.

• Wide Left.

• National titles on the line.

• Fights, flags, and seasons shattered.

This isn’t some contrived “border war” with a sponsored trophy. This is raw, blood-feud football. This is a primetime slot on ABC with the whole country watching. GameDay or not, Saturday night in Tallahassee feels like the biggest stage in America.

Miami’s Revenge Tour

Last year, Miami smacked Florida State 36–14. Now the Hurricanes roll into Doak ranked No. 3 in the AP and No. 1 in ESPN’s College Football Playoff projections. That’s right — Heather Dinich has Miami on top of the CFP ladder.

Quarterback Carson Beck has been steady, surgical, and borderline unflappable. The defense is giving up just 11.5 points per game while racking up sacks and turnovers. Mario Cristobal’s team looks more like vintage Miami than anything this fanbase has seen in two decades.

For the Canes, this game isn’t about ESPN cameras or hype. It’s about flexing. It’s about going into Tallahassee, under the lights, and proving this team is not just good in September — it’s built to be good in December.

Blame Florida State

No GameDay? Don’t blame Bristol. Blame Tallahassee. The Seminoles had one job: stay ranked high enough to make this matchup a no-brainer pick. Instead, they blew it in Charlottesville, coughing up a double-overtime loss to Virginia that sent their stock plummeting.

Now Miami fans get to clown them twice: once for losing to the Cavaliers, and again for losing the national spotlight. Hate Week practically writes itself.

GameDay is cool for recruiting, sure. It’s fun for the Instagram reels and the pregame crowd shots. But Miami-FSU doesn’t need it. This rivalry is its own pregame show, its own chaos factory.

Think about it: Doak Campbell, 7:30 p.m., Miami riding high, Florida State fighting for pride. You don’t need Rece Davis narrating it. You don’t need Lee Corso putting on a headgear. You need 60 minutes of pure, uncut hate on the field.

And that’s exactly what we’re getting.