South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Last chance at bragging rights with rivalry being put on hold
It’s unclear what the future holds for the “War on I-4” rivalry series but one thing is certain: There will be no love lost the next time UCF and USF meet on the football field.
“I’m not going to say we hate them, but that probably sums it up the best,” UCF junior defensive end Josh Celiscar said.
Maybe it’s because the campuses are separated by less than 100 miles and the rosters are made up heavily of Florida high school athletes.
Perhaps the streaky history entering Saturday’s game has something to do with it, too. USF won four consecutive times from 2005-08 while the Knights won five in a row from 2017-21.
Whatever the reason, these
programs don’t like each other.
“We really want the bragging rights,” USF senior linebacker Dwayne Boyles said this week. [When you] step on the field, there’s a lot of intensity on both sides and a lot of hate between both sides. There’s a lot of trashtalking going on.”
All of this could come to an end when UCF departs the AAC for the Big 12 Conference next season.
Although they could meet as non-conference opponents in the future, USF doesn’t have an opening on its non-conference slate that would work for UCF until at least 2028.
The rivalry series has gone on pause in the past. The teams didn’t faceeachotherbetween2009-12,but it’suncertainifthedesiretobringthe rivalry back to life will remain.
When asked this week if, in a perfect world, he’d like to keep the series alive moving forward, UCF coach Gus Malzahn was unsure.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Me and [UCF athletics director] Terry [Mohajir] will get together and we’ll figure out what’s best for us moving forward. Hard for me to answer that question right now.”
While UCF is leaving the AAC, a familiar Florida program is joining the Group of Five conference: FAU.
USF and FAU have only met four times, from 2002-13, but they will meet annually beginning next season through 2026 as part of the new AAC rotation.
Although a rivalry between the
Bulls and the Owls could grow, Boyles brought up a different AAC program when discussing which school could become USF’s new rival.
“I’d say Tulsa is creeping up here, but we don’t have another team like UCF where we could just battle with each other,” he said.
If it were up to the players on both sides, UCF and USF would likely play each season.
“I feel for those guys because it’s a great rivalry,” Boyles said about his younger teammates. “It’s been great for the past few years I’ve been here even though we haven’t gotten the outcome I wanted, but it is what it is.”
Added UCF offensive lineman Sam Jackson: “This one is our oldest rivalry game so as a player and a future alum, I would want to see this game in the future.”