Its kind of weird to think that our six game series with the Miami Hurricanes is already halfway over. When the series was extended for the last four games, most USF fans were shocked that a big program like Miami would agree to six games, and have half of them held in Tampa.
Most Miami fans to this day hate the deal, and I can't really blame them.In the eyes of the national media, Miami is supposed to take care of USF easily, and its considered a pretty decent sized upset if the Bulls win a game. You saw it when the Bulls beat Miami last season when it was the straw that broke the camel's back and it led to the dismissal of Randy Shannon just hours after the game.
The players get up for this game. For a lot of guys from southern Florida, they get to go up against players they've known their whole lives, and winning gives them a year's worth of bragging rights over their friends. The fans jab at each other at times, but its more like the FSU-USF game than the hate that comes with a rivalry that you see between FSU and Miami or even Florida and Miami.
Recruiting wise however is where the series is starting to gain traction. Right now, Florida and Florida State have the pick of the litter when it comes to the top-tier recruits in the state, and you've started to see more and more head-to-head battles between USF and Miami over the last couple of seasons.
Tommy Streeter is the first battle that came to mind between the two schools, but the Bulls have been able to win their fair share of battles for guys like Sam Barrington, Elkino Watson, Kayvon Webster, and Todd Chandler over the last couple of seasons. Even this season you've seen the battle between the two schools with Rayshawn Jenkins flipping from USF to Miami.
Honestly, it would take something drastic, like a FIU-Miami brawl redux with Sterling Griffin playing the part of NED or the Gator Flop to get a rivalry started. And with Miami already stating that a renewal of this series is highly unlikely, you might as well enjoy the three years we have left before both schools move on.