COACH GO: STANDING ON BUSINESS

As I’ve written about before, we are in a unique time in college football.

With money pouring into the sport from all directions, signature match-ups like the Orange Blossom Classic and the “War on I-4” have been forsaken and discarded by athletic departments looking for easy money, despite outcry from fans. With UCF parting ways from the conference they shared with South Florida, one of the promising newest rivalries in the state was put one ice. Last season, FAU ran up the score on USF last season, pouring it on the Bulls in RayJay during a 56-14 blowout. Head Coach Alex Golesh and the rest of the Bulls did not forgive, or forget this disrespect. This year, the Bulls embraced the opportunity to solidify a new in-state marquee rivalry for the American Athletic Conference.

AAC on a Friday night!! Tom Herman and Alex Golesh post game handshake. pic.twitter.com/v1FCMLGXqY

— Pat Smith (@patsmithradio) November 2, 2024

“Nothing, really. I said a year ago we would be back to get it, and we came back to get it. Whatever was said, I’m good.”

South Florida stepped over Florida Atlantic with a dominant second-half performance, claiming a 44-21 victory on Friday night.

Owls led 14-7 at the half, but the Bulls cranked up in the second-half to secure the win. In the fourth quarter, it became clear to everyone watching that USF and Alex Golesh was GBG, with the Bulls going for the two-point conversion after their final touchdown. USF improves to 4-4. Florida Atlantic is now 2-6 and 0-4 in AAC play.

ENERGY COLLEGE FOOTBALL NEEDS

As an in-state sports media platform, are we biased? Sure.

Are we on the right side of this debate? Absolutely.

In a world where Florida State and Miami have to travel to Berkley, California, for an Atlantic Coast Conference football game, we need more in-state energy. College football is the number one sport in the country, because it has everything the professional game can’t buy. You can’t buy authentic, raw and unhinged passion, passed down from generation to generation. Even in the professional version of the sport, with its stories franchises, business comes long before history, and tradition. Beloved franchises with greedy owners abandon their home towns to get new stadiums, in a way an institution in a college town never could. Florida Gators are the economy of Gainesville, Florida. Orlando, Florida is deeply invested in the UCF Knights, even when the Orlando Magic are good.

And, we don’t even discuss the no fun league here anymore.

Meanwhile, in Tampa Bay, a major market with a Super Bowl champion franchise, college football still matters.