UCF and USF remain at an impasse about renewing the I-4 rivalry series, which ended in 2022.
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UCF athletic director Terry Mohajir told On3’s Brett McMurphy that the Knights have no plans to play a home-and-home series with a Group of Six school, such as the Bulls. Mohajir has reiterated that message time and time again to local reporters.
USF AD Rob Higgins, meanwhile, has made it clear that the Bulls, which are members of the American Conference, won’t settle for just a road game at UCF.
“This has nothing to do with us snubbing our nose at another team in the state,” Mohajir told McMurphy. “It all has to do with our financial model. It has to work financially.”
Mohajir’s scheduling model has long been for the Knights to play non-conference games against a Football Championship Series opponent, a Group of Six team and a Power Four foe to complement the Big 12’s nine-game conference schedule.
The FCS and G6 games are to guarantee seven home games and maximize the nearly $5 million in revenue the athletic department makes from each game at Accisure Bounce House Stadium. That philosophy means the Knights won’t play road contests against any non-power, non-conference opponents.
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“Playing one game at UCF and not playing a home/home with USF has nothing to do with USF,” Mohajir told McMurphy. “We wouldn’t play in Boca Raton (Florida Atlantic), Miami (FIU), Statesboro (Georgia Southern), Memphis or Tulsa either.”
Higgins has been working to reinstate the War on I-4 series since he was hired as USF’s AD last November following the departure of Michael Kelly. The Bulls are set to open their new football stadium in 2027 and would welcome an opportunity to host UCF.
However, the two schools appear farther from making it a reality than ever.
According to On3, Mohajir offered USF a game in Orlando in 2031, but the school turned it down. Instead, Higgins offered a home-and-home series starting as early as 2031, but Mohajir declined.
Higgins also suggested a four-game series with a home-and-home matchup followed by neutral-site games in Orlando’s Camping World Stadium and Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium.
Again, Mohajir declined, stating it wouldn’t work financially.
UCF has won six straight games in the series, which began in 2005.
Please find me on X, Bluesky or Instagram at @osmattmurschel. Email: [email protected]. Sign up for the Sentinel’s Knights Weekly newsletter for a roundup of all our UCF coverage.
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