A fourth college football bowl game is on the verge of being canceled as the same issue affecting the other three takes its toll on the Miami Hurricanes.
According to Brett McMurphy of The Action Network, Miami is withdrawing from the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl game against Washington State due to COVID-19 issues. Per the report, it’s unknown whether the Sun Bowl will find a replacement in time.
The Sun Bowl is slated for New Year’s Eve, but that date is now very much in doubt. Several bowl games have already been canceled today, and more teams are starting to suffer from massive COVID-19 outbreaks by the day.
Last year the Sun Bowl had to be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the way things are going, this year’s edition of the game may suffer the same fate.
The Miami Hurricanes went 7-5 this past season, trudging out to a 2-4 start but winning five of their last six games. That wasn’t enough to save the job of head coach Manny Diaz, who was sacked after the regular season.
Jess Simpson would have taken the reins for the Hurricanes for their bowl game, but he won’t be staying next year. Miami made a splash and brought in Miami legend Mario Cristobal as their new head coach.
As for Washington State, they also dealt with some COVID-19 controversy during the year that saw their head coach fired for refusing to comply with the state’s vaccine mandate. But defensive coordinator Jake Dickert stepped in and thrived in his new role, earning the permanent job.
What would’ve been a matchup between teams on opposite corners of the country has now been effectively axed.