Urban Meyer succeeded Ron Zook at UF, but lately Zook has followed Meyer?s recipe for success while at Illinois.
They might chase each other down and meet in a New Year?s Day bowl game, either the Capital One Bowl or the Outback Bowl.
A potential matchup of Zook against the school that fired him could be the most talked- about non-BCS game of the postseason, giving incentive to bowl organizers to make it happen.
BIt?s certainly intriguing and adds something to it,C said Steve Hogan, the executive director of Florida Citrus Sports, which runs the Capital One Bowl. BWe are always interested in who is the highest-ranked team, got the best resume and is going to give us the best game on the field. That?s No. 1 for us. After that, if there?s an interesting story like that, it just makes it that much better.C
Before the season, you could have likened Illinois? chances of sniffing a January bowl game to Tim Tebow?s odds of winning the Heisman Trophy.
But here we are.
UF and Illinois have the same amount of losses, three, and are separated by seven places in the latest BCS rankings.
The Capital One Bowl pits the No. 2 Big Ten team against the No. 2 Southeastern Conference team, unless the BCS nabs at-large teams from the conferences.
The Outback Bowl gets the third pick from each league and generally chooses an SEC East team.
Both bowls have leeway in their picks and can take any team within one game in the overall standings of the best available school.
Barring multiple upsets, a handful of Big Ten and SEC teams will be available to both bowl games.
But no other matchups carry the same appeal as UF-Illinois.
BWould that create addition conversation? Sure it would,C said Jim McVay, president and CEO of the Outback Bowl. BWe wouldn?t try to match the teams unless they would be deserving. These are deserving, good teams.C
Like Meyer did at Bowling Green and Utah, Zook has laid a foundation for success at Illinois since taking over in 2005.
The Illini will play in a bowl game for the first time since the 2001 season, and, with strong recruiting, likely aren?t going to fold any time soon.
Just last week, Zook joined Meyer as the only coaches to beat Ohio State in the last two years.
Everyone has taken notice, even the bowl fortune-tellers.
ESPN.com and CBSSports.com have Zook penciled in to face his former team in Orlando.
A trip back to the Sunshine State for Zook would aid recruiting and allow him to see guys he recruited play their final college game.
However, the Gators would have just as much to lose as Zook has to gain.
UF athletics director Jeremy Foley, who fired Zook before the end of the 2004 season, will not comment on possible bowl matchups.
He will not talk about the humbling possibility of losing to Zook.
But the players will.
BThat would hurt Gator Nation a lot, Zook coming here and beating us,C said wide receiver Andre Caldwell, who played for Zook in 2003 and 2004.
BHe?s a great coach, and he?s made them a great team. But we still think we have the advantage with better players and better athletes.C
