Florida and Florida State extend rivalry through 2018 season
Florida State and Florida have faced off on the gridiron every year since the rivalry began in 1958 and on Thursday, the two schools announced that they have signed an agreement to continue their annual meeting through the 2018 season.
The 2015 and 2017 games will be held at Florida’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville and the 2016 and 2018 contests will take place at Florida State’s Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee. The teams have played 58 times with Florida leading the overall series 34-22-2. The Seminoles have won the past three of the last four matchups, including last year’s dominating 37-7 win.
The current contract between the schools was set to end in 2014 and with the College Football Playoff next season, many conferences have been weighing the idea of adding more conference games to schedules. The ACC has discussed the possibility of having a nine-game league schedule, and that has already impacted the rivalry between Florida and Miami, who have no future games scheduled.
Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley commented on the future of the Gators-Hurricanes rivalry last year.
“You never say never, but that’s not high on the agenda right now. You’ve got too many other issues. For me to sit here and say we’ll do that right now down the road, there’s too many unknowns with scheduling right now,” Fowler said in May. “If you’re at nine conference games, plus Florida State, I’d probably tell you it’s really unlikely.”
Historic rivalries are part of what makes college football so revered, so it’s good for the game to see these two schools face off every year. With the Seminoles coming off a national championship season and Florida looking to prove that last year’s 4-8 record was a fluke, the rivalry should be as heated as ever.
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