Where U At?

By on October 22, 2012

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. I can remember the days when the Florida State Miami football game was not only the most important college game in our Sunshine State, not only was it the biggest college football game that weekend, but when the U and the Seminoles faced off it was often the most important football game in Florida all year long—including all the NFL games. The winner of this game went on to win 6 AP National Championships between 1983 and 2001 (FSU won two and Miami four, with Miami also winning a championship after losing to FSU in 1989) and many Big East and ACC Championships between the two programs. However, since Miami lost the 2002 National Championship game only Miami has a BCS win (2004 Orange Bowl over Florida State—only bowl game matchup) and Florida State has the only other BCS appearance since then.

The rivalry has been down with the struggles of the two programs. Neither team has won the ACC since Florida State did it in 2005. Florida State has been high in the preseason rankings as of late, but has failed to live up to expectations. Miami has had many off-field issues stemming from allegations surrounding Nevin Shapiro, detailed in this Yahoo sports article. Also, on the field the Hurricanes haven’t won the ACC since moving from the Big East in 2005.

When one team is not living up to the other and a rivalry becomes one-sided it loses its luster. Florida State has dominated the series as of late in a game that has lost all national relevancy: boooorrrrinnnggg!!! As an outsider looking in I want both teams to be good like the battles in the ‘80s, ‘90s and ‘00s, like Ohio State Michigan in 2006, like Georgia Florida this season: when two good teams meet up and they flat out don’t like each other America wins. Seriously, it’s a much better watch when a rivalry game has national implications. When the game is at the level similar to that of the Apple Bowl (Washington Washington State) when each team is playing for their first win at the end of the season, no one cares about that rivalry game.

I miss the days of Seminoles ‘Canes being the second most important regular season college football game (behind Ohio State Michigan, of course). It’s usually at the top of the college football world, but Saturday’s game was completely irrelevant. With 73,000 in attendance (2,000 short of capacity, yet by far the largest crowd at a University of Miami game in 2012) the fans still support the rivalry between the two programs. But until we can see another game with two ranked teams, Florida State Miami is a game that is nothing like it used to be. It’s a disappointment.

Categories: College Football, Football, Sports
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