Why did the Miami vs Florida game... really stop?

[Andrew - Resident Gator]

Ego? Greed? Money? Mike Bianchi seems to think UF is guilty of it... In part, I do too. Read on:

Link: www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orl-bianchi0308sep03,0,5760232.column

Ego, money sacking good grid rivalries

Mike Bianchi | SPORTS COMMENTARY September 3, 2008

Tim Tebow's eyes flashed with excitement and his voice raised a couple of decibels when the subject of playing the Miami Hurricanes came up.

"Playing the 'U' is something I've never done before and I'm excited about it," chirped the University of Florida quarterback in reference to the rare renewal of the UF-UM rivalry this weekend.

"I think we should play Miami every year. That would be awesome. I'd love it."

Everybody would love it. The players. The fans. The media

Everybody.

But Florida and Miami don't play every year for the same reason UCF and South Florida are likely ending their four-year series after Saturday's game: Because arrogance and ego and, of course, greed have college football.

Remember when college football was supposed to be about the players and the fans and the student body? Well, now it's about bean-counting athletic administrators and ego-driven coaches.

"When the stakes are this high, everything changes," said Bill Carr, the former UF athletic director who took part in the failed negotiations that helped kill the annual Miami series in the mid-1980s.

Back then the Gators were just getting out of debt as an athletic program, and one of the main reasons they dropped Miami was to add another home game to help balance their budget. To this day, Carr insists UF would have kept playing UM if former UM athletic director Sam Jankovich had just agreed to give UF fans better seats in the Orange Bowl.

Maybe so, but I believe the death of the series had more to do with UF's feeling of superiority than UF's ticket priority. The Gators felt UM needed them more than they needed UM. They felt they were subsidizing UM's budget by guaranteeing a rare sellout in the Orange Bowl every other year. And it wasn't just coincidence that they dropped Miami just as the Hurricanes turned into regular national-title contenders.

The Gators tried to soften the PR blow by saying they were dropping Miami to play a more "national" schedule. Of course, that "national" schedule turned into dog-food games against teams like Montana State and Louisiana Tech.

It's pretty telling that Carr, even today, expresses the same sentiment that ran rampant back then.

"Florida," he said, "doesn't need to play Miami."

He's right, of course. The Gators don't need to play Miami, just as South Florida doesn't need to play UCF. But -- and I know this a foreign concept in today's big-money BCS world -- how about giving in-state fans a game they can get juiced about?

Is there any question UCF fans and players get more jazzed about USF than any other opponent? And if USF fans were honest, they'd tell you the same about UCF. But it doesn't matter to USF Coach Jim Leavitt, who is about to kill a perfectly good rivalry. And why? Because of ego run amok, that's why.

Because Leavitt is infected with the same "you need us more than we need you" attitude the Gators had so many years ago.

UCF Coach George O'Leary seems tired of lobbying for the continuation of the USF series but still stated his case yet again Tuesday.

"I think it's a great game for both fan bases," O'Leary said. "I think it's a natural game that provides a great college atmosphere. I'm not much for traveling five or six states over to play a game when we've got one 60 miles away. But it's not a big deal. If they don't want to play, we'll move on."

I don't know what's worse -- USF's inexplicable arrogance or UF's incessant money grab.

Let's face it, now that college teams play 12 regular-season games, the Gators could easily play Miami every year. Florida doesn't really need a seventh home game. The Gators -- bankrolled by millionaire boosters and a billion-dollar Southeastern Conference TV package -- are a money machine. They could easily subtract one home game every other year, play Miami and not even notice it in their budget.

"Why would we want to do that?" UF Athletic Director Jeremy Foley said. "Why would you want to take $2 million out of your pocket every other year?"

Such is the business of college football.

In order to indulge bigger and bigger athletic budgets and bigger and bigger egos, the games just keep getting smaller and smaller.

[Andrew - Resident Gator]

I'm dying to hear Cincy's opinion.

Quite honestly, I don't know why it stopped... I was, 2? At the time of the last scheduled game. I would like to see it come back. Jeremy Foley makes a good point at the end of the article. Why would we want to take 2 million out of our pocket every other year, when it could be an implication to not getting to a NC and getting us, many more millions. But on the flip side, if Miami is a powerhouse again, it could Propel us INTO a NC like the SECCG in 2006.

Thats my humble opinion. It's a double edged sword.

[thepryoreffect]

It could be any number of things really. We have had a similar situation over the years in college basketball between Ohio State and Cincinnati.

For years, Cincinnati was the dominant basketball school in the state and while they were open to a series with Ohio State, AD Andy Geiger consistently nixed the idea. The reason most figured that he turned it down(myself included) is because Ohio State is seen by most as the superior college, especially inside Ohio, and if Ohio State continued to lose to Cincinnati(which they probably would have more often than not) then it would somehow diminish their status. Now Geiger's gone and they are playing regularly. Of course Cincinnati's down right now and OSU is up, but with the Bearcats looking like they're pulling in good recruits, it could get really fun in the coming years.

[Andrew - Resident Gator]

I think a UF vs Miami rivalry would be damaging to the losing team, if the losing becomes frequent and bad.

Look at Florida State. Losing to Florida the last 5/8 and the last 4 in a row, has really hurt their program. They have lost a lot on the recruiting front in the state of Florida, now they are on the verge of ousting Bobby Bowden. Most of these kids aren't even old enough to remember Bowdens "glory days". Now losing in the modern era of football to Florida every year, kids are more inclined to go to UF than FSU.

I think the same thing could happen to Miami and UF. UF has a lot to lose by playing UM every year, AND we play FSU every year. If we were to lose to both schools in 1 year, there goes an entire year of recruits... make it 2 years in a row... Florida is back in the dumps, in the SEC, just because two ACC schools stole all their recruits.

Miami had a lot to lose in the 90's by playing Florida, but Florida didn't play them, to take away recruits, etc. SO it didn't happen.

But it could...

[thepryoreffect]

Sept 3, 2008 12:42:53 GMT -5 Andrew - Resident Gator said:

I think a UF vs Miami rivalry would be damaging to the losing team, if the losing becomes frequent and bad.

Look at Florida State. Losing to Florida the last 5/8 and the last 4 in a row, has really hurt their program. They have lost a lot on the recruiting front in the state of Florida, now they are on the verge of ousting Bobby Bowden. Most of these kids aren't even old enough to remember Bowdens "glory days". Now losing in the modern era of football to Florida every year, kids are more inclined to go to UF than FSU.

I think the same thing could happen to Miami and UF. UF has a lot to lose by playing UM every year, AND we play FSU every year. If we were to lose to both schools in 1 year, there goes an entire year of recruits... make it 2 years in a row... Florida is back in the dumps, in the SEC, just because two ACC schools stole all their recruits.

Miami had a lot to lose in the 90's by playing Florida, but Florida didn't play them, to take away recruits, etc. SO it didn't happen.

But it could...

Yeah, there are giant egos that run these schools and particularly in Florida, I'm sure they all view their school as the "premiere" Florida college. So sometimes those egos put things on the backburner that would be good for fans simply because they don't want those egos scarred.