The Significance of the “Florida Cup”

by Brendan Paschal

The Florida Gators, Miami Hurricanes, and Florida State Seminoles will all play each other in 2019. This has not happen since 2013. While FSU plays both Miami and Florida annually, the Gators haven’t faced the ‘Canes for five years. But this year, the Florida Cup returns. What’s the Cup, you ask? The winner of this year’s “round robin style of play” will be awarded the Florida Cup, which represents the best college football team in the Sunshine State (or second best if you’re a delusional UCF fan.)

New Coaches

All three programs have new coaches. Florida’s Dan Mullen enters his second year; Willie Taggart also enters his sophomore year with Florida State; Manny Diaz starts his career as Mami’s head coach this upcoming season. 2019 will be huge for all three coaches. A win against their neighbors appeases boosters, players, athletic directors, and most importantly, recruits. A blowout loss, on the other hand, may set back each program for the next 3-5 years.

Mullen is in the best shape out of the three, but he also has fans with the highest expectations. FSU fans are hoping to see at least one offensive lineman who can hold a block longer than half a second. Miami fans have been crushed too often to get their hopes up. That leaves the Gators. Florida fans are out for blood. Mullen has the toughest job of the three being in the SEC. The odds of Florida winning the East this year are still against him. So, he needs the boys to show up against his in state rivals to appease the fans in some sort of way. Go 9-3 with blowout wins over Miami and Florida State, and Mullen is still progressing the program. Get upset by one of your Florida foes, and Mullen has a big 2020 ahead of him.

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Recruiting Battles

It’s no secret that the state of Florida has the greatest high school football prospects. Some might say Texas has the best. Others will say California. They are wrong. In 1979, Howard Schnellenberger established the “State of Miami” where he dominated recruiting throughout South Florida. With this philosophy, Schnellenberger took a program that was on the verge of being cut by the school to a National Championship in the span of five years.

Fast forward to 2019 and no in-state program owns the recruiting field anymore. Anyone and everyone can dip into Florida and pluck out a nice five-star recruit. Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Georgia, South Carolina, Penn State, hell, even PAC 12 teams come into Florida grab a recruit and flick everyone off on their way back to their respective campuses. This Florida Cup could change all of that.

A clear and decisive winner of the Cup will get high school recruits attention, and they will let everyone know there’s a new sheriff in town. Coaches can go to these young men in their state and convince them that it’s in their best interest to stay in their home state. For years, teams like Alabama, Clemson, and Georgia have been able to tell high schoolers with confidence that they will not win a national championship if they go to Florida, Miami, or FSU. Sure, that still might be true for the foreseeable future, but winning out in your state is a start.

August 24, 2019: Miami vs Florida

This is such a big deal that ESPN got the NCAA to agree to move the game up a week, which will now be played on August 24th. ESPN pushed for this so they could be the ones that kick off the 150th anniversary of College Football. It goes without saying, but this is going to be one helluva night. Two historically proud programs facing off in the state where a lot of the greatest college football players reside, and not to mention, under the lights. Sure, this will not be the greatest football ever played – early season matchups rarely are – but it’s the pageantry that will make us grateful for college football. The winner of this game wins the Cup, in my opinion. The winner of this game also sets themselves up for a dominant couple of years.