Billy Napier stresses importance of preserving Florida-Florida State rivalry in new college football landscape

With the SEC’s move to a nine-game conference schedule beginning in 2026, a lot has been made of how the league will determine each team’s three intra-conference permanent rivals. But as SEC teams make adjustments to their future non-conference opponents to better adapt to the new conference slate, there are growing concerns about the impact on longstanding out-of-conference rivalries.

For teams like Florida that have multiple in-state non-conference rivals in Florida State and Miami, the new nine-game SEC schedule could lead to some difficult choices ahead. But as far as fourth-year Gators head coach Billy Napier is concerned, the annual Florida-FSU rivalry won’t be going anywhere.

“I think that game is historical in relevance and certainly it’s not going away. Not only would our people not let that happen, but I know their administration, their alumni, their fanbase would feel the same way,” Napier said Wednesday on the SEC’s weekly coaches teleconference. “We’re going to play that game regardless. If they told us we had 11 conference games, we’d still play Florida-Florida State. It’s if not the greatest, one of the greatest rivalries of all time and a pretty special opportunity for both teams each year.”

Titled the Sunshine Showdown, the Florida-Florida State rivalry series has been played every year since its inception in 1958, regularly coming on the final Saturday of the regular season. The Gators hold the all-time series lead at 38-28-2 and won the most recent game 31-11 on Nov. 30, 2024.

Despite that history, FSU has a 9-5 advantage over the past 14 seasons, including winning five straight between 2013-17. The 2025 edition of the rivalry is currently set for Nov. 29 in Gainesville.

Florida’s rivalry with Miami hasn’t been an annual event for several years, though the Gators and Hurricanes complete a previously scheduled two-year home-and-home series on Sept. 20 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. Miami, which holds an all-time 30-27 advantage in the series, won last year’s matchup 41-17 over Florida in Gainesville.

Steve Spurrier claims Florida will beat Georgia in 2025: ‘We’re due’

The Florida Gators are getting ready for a 2025 season where they’re expected to take another stride forward under head coach Billy Napier. With that, it’s time to show some proof of concept for the Napier era. That means beating teams they’ve struggled against in the past, including the Georgia Bulldogs.

While on Another Dooley Noted Podcast, former Florida head coach Steve Spurrier shared his thoughts on the Gators this season. Notably, that included predicting they’d win nine games this season. The way the schedule breaks down, that would include getting a win over Georgia.

“[Kevin] Brockway, our local guy here, picked us to go 9-3,” Steve Spurrier said. “And I like that number. I like that number. I think we’ve got an excellent chance to go 9-3. Now, he picked us losing three SEC games. Georgia, and then at Ole Miss and at LSU… I sort of think we might lose one of at Miami or Texas A&M, but beat Georgia.”

Florida is looking for a win against rival Georgia that’s been hard to come by in recent seasons. In their last four meetings, the Bulldogs have walked away with four wins. Going back to 2016, or the start of the Kirby Smart era, Florida is just 2-7 against the Bulldogs. During that same time, Florida has had three full-time head coaches.

“We’re due to beat Georgia,” Spurrier said. “It’s as simple as that.”

— On3’s Dan Morrison contributed to this report.