Shooting stars are rare, and people love that.
Advancements in telescopes and technology have allowed humanity to see so much more from space, but catching a glimpse of a shooting star has an exciting, nostalgic edge.
I liken that quality to this weekend’s game between the Gators and the Hurricanes.
The Florida-Miami rivalry delivered can’t-miss games for nearly half a century until the series ended its annual run in 1987. Now, if you blink, you’ll miss the showdown.
Growing up a Gators fan in Gainesville, Florida coach Will Muschamp always had a vested interest any time the Gators faced off against the Hurricanes. No matter where the game was played, he was hooked.
“When it was in Miami, I remember watching or listening on the radio,” Muschamp said. “Then, obviously, when it was here in Gainesville, I was trying to get in the stadium somehow.”
The same cannot be said for Gators quarterback Jeff Driskel, who hails from Oviedo, which is just outside of Orlando — nestled between the two schools.
“I saw Ahmad Black tweet the other day one of the scores to a game that we won,” Driskel said. “That’s about all I know of the history of Florida-Miami.”
And at the rate the series is going now with no matchups planned beyond Saturday’s game, Driskel’s successors at Florida will not know much about this rivalry.
It’s sad to see a series that includes moments like the “Florida Flop,” needless game-ending field goals from Howard Schnellenberger in 1980 and Urban Meyer in 2008 and ex-Gator Brock Berlin leading Miami to a 23-point comeback in 2003 sit dormant.
In a perfect world free of logic and red tape, the Hurricanes and Gators would meet annually in a highly anticipated matchup of resurgent powers.
But on Florida’s end, playing Miami regularly makes little sense for several reasons.
The most well-documented issue is money. In order to fund all Gators sports, athletics director Jeremy Foley has said UF needs to play seven home football games per season.
In an interview with The Alligator last November, Foley said that Florida has been setting aside money since 2008 to account for playing only six home games this season.
Foley told Mark Long of the Associated Press on Monday that the two teams could potentially continue to play at a neutral site. Orlando and Tampa seem like good options.
But even if Florida found a way to make an annual series with Miami financially viable, adding another regular opponent with top-25 potential is just ludicrous.
Sure, we’d all love to see it, but consider what the Gators have to deal with already from year to year. Georgia, South Carolina, Florida State and LSU aren’t going anywhere.
Also, you have to think that the sleeping giant at Tennessee is eventually going to wake up. And with potential games against Alabama a possibility, I doubt any Gator fans want to battle for Sunshine State supremacy during UF’s weeks away from the Southeastern Conference grind.
The UF-UM rivalry has a rich history, but it is a relic in college football’s current climate.
Even more storied non-conference rivalries like Texas-Texas A&M and Notre Dame-Michigan simply cannot survive without some financial or competitive sacrifice.
With the jockeying for playoff spots that will begin next season, the margin of error for each is incredibly thin. Florida playing and beating Miami looks good on a postseason resume, but can the Gators count on taking down the Hurricanes every year?
Florida-Miami is a good rivalry that’s fun to watch, but the schools have a good thing going. I imagine they will continue playing each other intermittently, and whenever they do face off, I’m writing about it, and you’re reading.
Follow Joe Morgan on Twitter @joe_morgan.
Will Muschamp reacts to a call during Florida’s 24-6 victory against Toledo on Saturday in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The Gators were flagged 10 times for 70 yards in their season opener after averaging 8.1 penalties for 68.9 yards per game during the 2012 season.
