The University of Florida Gators and the University of Georgia Bulldogs play in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) The two schools do not agree on when their gridiron rivalry began. The first game in the rivalry acknowledged by both schools took place in Jacksonville in 1915. The series has been played annually since 1926 except in 1943, when Florida did not field a team due to World War II.
About Florida–Georgia football rivalry in brief
The University of Florida Gators and the University of Georgia Bulldogs play in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) The two schools do not agree on when their gridiron rivalry began. The first game in the rivalry acknowledged by both schools took place in Jacksonville in 1915. The series has been played annually since 1926 except in 1943, when Florida did not field a team due to World War II. Beginning with the 2008 contest, Florida holds a 7–6 edge over Georgia, with the fierce rivals enjoying and then suffering through alternating sets of three game win streaks. The Gators broke the Bulldogs’ string of three consecutive series wins in 2020. The game attracts huge crowds to Jacksonville, and the associated tailgating and other events earned it the nickname of the \”World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party\”, although that name is no longer used officially. Since the 1960s, the Florida–Georgia rivalry has often held conference or national championship implications for one or both schools. Both teams have had title game, sometimes in surprising upset wins, and both schools have had national championship hopes dashed. To date, Florida has won ten of the 14 SEC Eastern Division titles, while Georgia has won the other ten. The rivalry has taken on more importance since the SEC split in 1992, with both teams placed in the East Division. The contest has often decided who will play for the SEC Championship Game, meaning that the contest often decides who will be playing for the national championship in the Championship Game of the year. The winner of the game is usually the team that won the SEC East Division title in the previous season’s championship game.
The teams have played every season since 1926, except for a war-time interruption in 1943. The programs first met in 1904 or 1915, and have played each season since then except for the 1943 interruption. Georgia dominated the early series while Florida held a clear advantage in the 1950s and 1960s. Georgia again dominated in the 1970s and 80s under coach Vince Dooley, while Florida took the upper hand in the series during the 1990s and 2000s under coaches Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer. In 1966, the Bulldogs intercepted the Gators’ 3 passes by eventual Heisman Trophy winner Steve Spurriers, derailing Florida’s national title hopes in a 27-10 upset. In 2002, Florida’s only loss of the season and likely cost them a chance to play for a national championship cost the Bulldogs a likely chance to win the title and cost them their only chance of winning the title. The two teams play each other in Jacksonville, Florida, with only two exceptions, making it one of the few remaining neutral-site rivalries in college football. Florida’s University Athletic Association does not include this game in their series record as it occurred before the modern university was established by the Florida Legislature with the Buckman Act of 1905 and before the new school in Gainesville fielded its first football team in 1906. By both school’s reckoning, Georgia dominated the early rivalry. Florida’s team did not score a single point against the Bulldogs until their fifth meeting.
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This page is based on the article Florida–Georgia football rivalry published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 07, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
