Examining the Rivalry: Florida

In the next few days, I'll be examining Florida State's rivalry with each of the Seminole's three main rivals: Florida, Miami, and Clemson. Today we'll start with the Florida Gators.

University of Florida

The Gators established their football program in 1906, which was 41 years before the Seminoles. They play in the South Eastern Conference in the Eastern Division. Florida has 3 National Championships and 8 SEC titles since joining the conference in 1932.

Florida State established a football team in 1947 after switching from an all-girls school. They immediately requested to play the University of Florida in football but the Gators declined. It wasn't until 1958 when the two schools finally began playing each other. At this point, the University of Florida football team was well-established while the Seminoles were still new and the program was inexperienced. FSU wasn't even allowed to host a game against the Gators until 1964 due to their stadium being too small. All of this led to UF gaining a 15-2-1 series advantage in the first 18 meetings.

The following season was when a man named Bobby Bowden took over at Florida State. The Seminoles had struggled the first 30 years as a football program. However, Bobby Bowden completely turned around the program and made them a national powerhouse. Ever since Bowden became head coach at Florida State University, the UF-FSU rivalry has been even, with both teams owning a record of 18-18-1. The overall series is now 33-20-2 in favor of the Gators.

There have been many great games in the rivalry. Among them include the 1994 "Choke at Doak" game where the Gators led 31-3 at the start of the 4th quarter but the Seminoles rallied and the game ended in a 31-31 tie.

The 1996 season had two more memorable games in this rivalry. The Gators were ranked #1 and FSU was #2 in the nation when the teams met at the end of the season. The 'Noles pulled off a 24-21 upset in Tallahassee. However, in the National Championship game, the two teams met for a rematch. The Gators won 52-20 and won their first National Championship.

The UF-FSU rivalry is among the best in the nation. When each team meets on the final Saturday of the regular season, there is no doubt an extra level of passion displayed by both teams. The game is significant for recruiting purposes as the winner of this game has an upper-hand grabbing the state's most elite recruits. Majority of the time this game also has BCS implications as one or both of the schools are usually ranked in the top-10 when the two teams meet. It is a rivalry among two schools located only two hours apart. It's Florida-Florida State, the battle of the Sunshine State.