Florida–Miami football rivalry
| Sport | Football |
|---|---|
| First meeting | October 15, 1938 Miami 19, Florida 7 |
| Latest meeting | September 7, 2013 Miami 21, Florida 16 |
| Next meeting | 2019 |
| Trophy |
Florida Cup, and formerly Seminole War Canoe |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 55 |
| All-time series | Miami leads, 29-26 (.527) |
| Largest victory | Florida, 46–6 (1940) |
| Longest win streak | Florida, 7 (1971–77) |
| Current win streak | Miami, 1 |
The Florida–Miami football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Florida Gators football team of the University of Florida and Miami Hurricanes football team of the University of Miami. The game was played annually from 1944 until 1987, and is now played intermittently. The winning team was formerly awarded the Seminole War Canoe Trophy. Today, the round robin winner of the three biggest schools in the state of Florida (either the Florida Gators, Florida State Seminoles or Miami Hurricanes) receives the Florida Cup for beating the other two schools in the same season. Miami leads the series 29–26, and has won seven of the past eight match-ups including a 21–16 victory in the most recent game played in 2013.
The Gators and Hurricanes played on an annual "home-and-away" basis until the end of the 1987 season, when the requirements of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) for member schools to play eight conference games induced the University of Florida to fill out the non-conference portion of its schedule with teams that do not require a home-and-home arrangement (except for Florida State). Since that time the Gators and Hurricanes have met on the gridiron just six times (Miami winning five and Florida winning one) with no future games scheduled.
Before the annual series was canceled, the rivalry used to be regarded by many as the biggest in the state of Florida. The rivalry began ten years before future Florida State University fielded its first football team. Given the explanation at the time of cancellation, many Canes fans remain skeptical, accusing the Gators of being afraid of losing, even though at the time, the two teams split the last six games and Miami's only loss in their 1983 national title season was to Florida. Current University of Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley has reiterated financial concerns as well as SEC expansion as reason for not renewing the series.
The Seminole War Canoe Trophy was hand carved by Seminole Indians from a 200-year-old cypress tree that was struck by lightning. Donated on the behalf of Hollywood, Florida in 1950, it has been an award given to the winner of football games between the schools. The canoe was intended to be a representation of the fighting spirit of the Seminoles. The trophy stopped being passed from school to school in the early 1970s; both schools had trouble displaying the large wooden trophy. After the final game in the "home and home" series in 1987, the Seminole War Canoe Trophy was put on permanent display at the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame. In 2011, the University of Florida Student Government approved a resolution, which was sent to UM student body president Christina Farmer, ESPN and the head football coaches at each school, requesting the War Canoe's return to UF since they had won the 2008 contest. In response, Brandon Mitchell, president of the University of Miami's Category 5 spirit club, replied: "The War Canoe was intended for the yearly rivalry and . . . Miami won the final game of that yearly rivalry." Miami kept the trophy and it remains at the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame. The teams share a 19–19 record during the 38-game stretch of the War Canoe Trophy from 1950 to 1987.
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