Florida Football Fix | Politics' role in the War on I-4

Final thoughts on how UCF beat USF in Big 12 expansion

 ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

View on the web Go to our homepage Subscribe to the Times Thursday, June 29, 2023 Forward this to a friend Subscribe to more newsletters [LUIS SANTANA | Times (2022)] Little things make a big difference in conference realignment With UCF officially joining the Big 12 on Saturday, we took a deep look at how the Knights left USF behind — a thought that would have seemed inconceivable 15 years ago when the War on I-4 died the first time. It’s a story my colleague, Joey Knight, and I have been thinking about and reporting for months. I hope you’ll read it online or in Sunday’s print edition.   Rather than rehash the story, I want to share a few other nuggets that jumped out but were left on the cutting room floor, starting with everyone’s favorite subject …politicians!   I had heard before that UCF wanted to play the Bulls in the 2000s but USF didn’t want to. Makes sense. The Bulls had little to gain but plenty to lose. So I asked then-Knights athletic director Steve Orsini how the series got started in the first place.   “We needed help,” Orsini said. “We needed help from higher authorities than us.”   And by higher authorities, he means politicians in Tallahassee. Orsini said he doesn’t even know all the details or how the politics played out. He just got a call from someone who told him to phone his counterpart at USF, because that conversation should go better now. And that’s how the War on I-4 was born.   One of the themes of the story is that it took a lot of big and little wins for UCF to lap the Bulls. Here’s one that deserves a deeper look.   USF was up by a score early in the fourth quarter of its 2017 thriller, then picked off a UCF pass. The Bulls seemed to have the ball with momentum and the lead. Except the interception was negated by a defensive holding call. The Knights kept the ball. They didn’t score but picked up field position, then forced a three-and-out and scored four plays later to take a 35-34 lead in an eventual 49-42 victory.   My point isn’t to relitigate the penalty or denigrate UCF’s win. Rather, I want to present that as one example of the countless little things that made an enormous difference. If there’s no flag, maybe USF beats UCF and the Bulls, not the Knights, beat Memphis to win the AAC and play in the Peach Bowl. How different would things be today in that scenario?   Another note on that game: UCF started four players from the Tampa Bay area. That’s as many locals as the Bulls started in Skip Holtz’s final game.   Three of USF’s last four coaching hires were misses (Skip Holtz, Charlie Strong and Jeff Scott). Their staffs are worth mentioning, too. At least four sitting Division I-A head coaches are former Knights assistants (Georgia Tech’s Brent Key, Texas State’s G.J. Kinne, Middle Tennessee’s Rick Stockstill and USF’s Alex Golesh). Gene Chizik was a former UCF assistant, too, before he won a national title at Auburn. USF’s FBS coaching tree is effectively limited to Indiana’s Tom Allen.   If you're wondering, Golesh does not consider UCF's move to the Big 12 to be a touchy subject. "I'd love to play those guys," Golesh said.   Finally, I like to do a big project like this every offseason. Last year, I chronicled the rise, fall and future of Florida’s Big Three, for instance. If you’ve got ideas for the next one, I’d love to hear them. For now, I'm going to enjoy some vacation time.  — Matt Baker, colleges and recruiting reporter Latest in Tampa Bay sports Lightning trade forward Ross Colton to Avalanche for second-round pick Tampa Bay loses another homegrown piece of its championship core due to salary-cap constraints. Read more Rays rally in ninth for ‘kind of a win that we needed’ over Diamondbacks Yandy Diaz gets them going again, then Josh Lowe delivers the key hit, a two-run double. Read more Rays should know soon Taylor Walls’ availability to rejoin lineup Notebook | Right lat tightness has been an issue for a few days; the good news is that an MRI showed no oblique issue. Read more Rays on pace for several team records, individual accomplishments With the second half of the season underway, here are 10 numbers showing what a full season at the same pace would look like. Read more Bucs to open 10 training camp practices to spectators The team will have a pair of joint practices with Aaron Rodgers and the Jets in New Jersey. Read more NFL finalizing discipline for Tampa-area player, others linked to gambling violations Blake High alumnus Isaiah Rodgers Sr., projected to be a starter this season, likely faces at least a year-long suspension. Read more Contact Matt Baker at mbaker@tampabay.com. Follow @MBakerTBTimes. Did someone forward this to you? Get Sports Today in your own inbox next time. It's free to subscribe. Sign up here. Contact us Privacy policy Terms, Conditions & Copyright Standard of accuracy © 2023 • All Rights Reserved Tampa Bay Times • 490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 To ensure this email is delivered to your inbox, add custserv@elist.tampabay.com to your address book. You are receiving this email because you signed up for the "Sports Today" newsletter from the Tampa Bay Times. If you’d prefer not to receive updates, you can unsubscribe from this email.