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We were so close to having Alabama against UCF.
A letter from
Never mind. Maybe in the college football playoffs, right?
On Thursday, Alabama announced three future football games against USF, the other Florida-led school, one of which on the Tampa Road in 2023. On several levels, it's going on. This is a fascinating calendar decision for Alabama, the most dominant team in college football in the last decade.
In particular, Alabama rarely plays opponents who do not belong to the group of five on the road. There is absolutely no value in it for the scarlet tide.
Most brazenly, Alabama is breaking his head to play the hated rival of UCF, the team that claimed (and won) a national champion title alongside Alabama in 2018 although it did not not even participated in the playoffs.
Alabama's willingness to travel to the USF makes no sense (except perhaps for recruiting purposes), unless you are familiar with the small size of university football, the engine of rivalry. and competitive intrigue.
UCF's thoughtless irreverence for the Crimson Tide on Clemson was widely ridiculed here in Alabama in 2018, but the NCAA then validated UCF's claim. The mischievous Knights of Orlando even offered national championship rings and embarked on a parade of national championships at Disney World.
In Tuscaloosa, Alabama fans climbed in circles to conquer the UCF national championship by hosting an evening at the Gallettes bar with a cardboard participation trophy.
These are the kinds of things that make college football a great success. Of course, all that was silly, but the disdain for UCF's claim was real. And fans of Alabama were not alone in the UCF. Many journalists and fans from other Power 5 schools joined them. By claiming a national champion title, the UCF seemed to threaten to break the power structure of college football.
The UCF then claimed that Power 5 schools would not program them for fear of losing to a Group 5 opponent.
In response, would Alabama be lean enough to schedule UCF's main rival, and even go on the road against a team other than Power 5 for the first time since 2003? We can only wish.
Whether intentional or not, Alabama has just slapped UCF face-to-face with this series of games against USF.
Those in Alabama may not be very aware of the rivalry between UCF and USF, but it was built with contempt and disdain. While the UCF was still at the American Conference, their rivals in Tampa refused to schedule the Orlando School. USF, who was playing in the Big East at the time, despised UCF and tried to devalue the Knights' favorite hangout in central Florida by ignoring the school.
Then the Big East moved away and the UCF entered the American Athletics Conference with the team that had already refused to play. They are now calling the rivalry between USF and UCF "the war on I-4". The UCF has become a regional powerhouse of the Group of 5 thanks to its former coach Scott Frost, and now, USF is catching up.
Enter Michael Kelly.
Kelly, who was the first head of operations at College Football Playoff, became the USF Sports Director in 2018 and leveraged his ties with top university football players to schedule impressive games for the Bulls. South Florida will soon face Florida, Miami and now Alabama, and this, all at the Raymond James Stadium, home of the USF and site of the 2017 College Football Playoff Championship game.
How did Kelly do it? Knowing the unwritten rules of college football, Kelly has scheduled a match-two against these schools to arrive at home games against opponents of the Power 5. USF will play in Tuscaloosa in 2024 and 2026.
This is the way you play the game if you are an opponent of the Group of 5 and you try to raise the profile of your school and your football team.
Meanwhile, UCF Sports Director, Danny White, has put himself at a standstill with his school by refusing to schedule two for one. Ironically, based on the story between UCF and USF, White says it's under UCF's responsibility.
This is a short-sighted position for a Group 5 school.
Maybe UCF can program a series of games with Auburn. After all, it's the fault of the Tigers. UCF's victory against Auburn in 2018 was the de facto match of the national championship.
In addition to the complicated backdrop, Alabama sets an important precedent in facing an opponent of the Group of 5. So, congratulations to the scarlet tide. Now, if only they were playing at UAB.
Continue to dream. This is the smallness of college football at a different level.
Joseph Goodman is a columnist for the Alabama Media Group. He's on Twitter @ JoeGoodmanJr.
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