The University of South Florida football team announced a massive addition to their future non-conference schedules today, as they've inked a three-game series with the Florida Gators. The series will begin in 2022 with a game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, then switch to the Bulls' home turf in Tampa's own Raymond James Stadium in 2023. The final game of the series is scheduled for Gainesville in 2025.
This is big news for USF Football. They've only played Florida once in program history, a 38-14 loss in Gainesville back in 2010, and have never hosted the Gators in Tampa. Two of the three largest home crowds in USF history have been for in-state opponents (a 2012 game vs. Florida State University and a 2009 matchup against the University of Miami), so it's safe to assume the 2023 game will draw a hefty amount of fans, given the amount of Bulls and Gators supporters in the area.
This series is part of an ongoing scheduling renaissance of sorts for the Bulls, who have done a fine job of locking in future games against high-profile opponents. Apart from Florida, USF has games scheduled against Texas, Wisconsin, Louisville, NC State, and Georgia Tech over the next five years. The 2022 non-conference schedule is particularly impressive, with a home opener against Texas followed by road games against Florida and Louisville.
The Bulls had to juggle their future non-conference schedules around a bit to make room for the Gators. A 2022 home game against Florida Atlantic University will be pushed back to an as-yet-undetermined date, while a 2023 home game against San Jose State has been moved back a week from September 9th to September 16th.
For teams like USF that are outside college football's "power" conferences, it's absolutely critical to schedule tough teams in order to make an impact nationally. Give USF athletic director Mark Harlan a ton of credit for making this series happen, particularly with a notoriously selective scheduler like UF.
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