The state of Florida football’s non-conference scheduling
By Nick Knudsen
College football isn’t fair
Is it fair for Florida to demand a two-for-one series? No.
It’s also unfair that college football has a playoff system that has only featured ten different programs in its five seasons of existence and that said playoff refused to take a real look at a fun, high-flying team that was riding a 25-game winning streak.
It’s unfair that Alabama, the only program to qualify for each of the five playoffs, just reeled in another Top Five recruiting class. If you’re a Bama fan, it’s unfair that the class was not universally regarded as the top-ranked class in the country.
Also, it’s unfair that…are you seeing a pattern yet? The list of complaints can go on for quite some time when it comes to college football and fairness.
UCF is not going to fix college football by not playing Florida. Take the deal!
One win over the Gators would give UCF legitimacy in the eyes of a skeptical playoff committee, not to mention it would give Knights fans years’ worth of bragging rights. In short, UCF has more to gain out of this arrangement than Florida. Take the deal!
Adopting an “anyone, anywhere, anytime” type of mindset would help build UCF’s gridiron reputation, gain the Knights national exposure, and provide the program with the type of credibility it needs to become a school that can demand a home-and-home from schools like Florida and two-for-ones from programs that UCF deems unworthy of a home-and-home series. Take the deal!
Other programs have suffered through similar insulting one-sided scheduling as they built their reputation. UCF does not even need to look out-of-state to find a great example of how to do it.