Which rivalry needs to be re-energized? Florida State-Miami

Which rivalry needs to be re-energized? Florida State-Miami

Attention, Florida State's Bobby Bowden and Miami's Randy Shannon. Time to stop dadgum messin' with the rivalry your schools built and now have botched. Enough of this regionally televised, can't-sell-out-the-joint games that carries less punch than UCF-USF.

We need top 10 teams. We need Cortez Kennedy and Russell Maryland trying to tackle Dexter Carter. How about Wide Right IV (or V, depending on the counter)? Just bring back what used to be the most enjoyable annual game in all college football.

We remember the good ol' days, when Oklahoma's Barry Switzer and Nebraska's Tom Osborne option-pitched the nation's best rivalry to the Sunshine State. And from 1987-1993, the Seminoles and Hurricanes clashed every fall when each team was ranked in the Top 10. The series delivered incredible memories -- Michael Irvin vs. Deion Sanders, Gerry Thomas and Dan Mowrey missing kicks, and a parade of forgettable quarterbacks (I'll see your Craig Erickson and raise you a Danny McManus). UM and FSU combined for three outright national titles in those seven years, with the 'Canes sharing a fourth.

Those numbers made each year's rivalry renewal into a festival, something no Cocktail Party or Red River Shootout or even Bo Schembechler could trump. Florida State-Miami had Keith Jackson in the booth and the nation paying heed and a buzz unmatched by any college football day save Jan. 1.

Things have changed, of course. Ever since Willis McGahee's knee shredded at Sun Devil Stadium six years ago, both programs have plunged to Michigan State-dom. "Da U" has made more headline for tumult and tragedy than triumph. And Bowden's biggest contribution the last five seasons has been serving as chief spokesman for Tim Tebow Heisman Trophy campaigns.

As for your head-to-head matchups? The best thing to emerge from those was a few photos of Jenn Sterger.

These days, it's far more fun to watch Miami and Florida State recruit than watching Miami and Florida State play. The matchups might stay close until the final seconds, but no thanks to outstanding play on both sides of the ball. Take last year's 41-39 duel -- with seven turnovers, and UM's inability to corral FSU's backs, the game resembled a junior varsity meeting of the programs from a generation ago.

Somehow, the television networks believe in this series. ESPN will give the 'Noles and 'Canes another crack at the primetime slot on Labor Day night, an amateur version of Monday Night Football. The programs might be focused on beating Virginia Tech and Florida, worried about the ACC and the BCS. But we'll narrow the target for them -- concentrate on making the head-to-head series the nation's best again, and those other opponents will grow far less formidable.

We want this rivalry to matter again. We want our Miami-FSU in the penthouse again.

Source: Sporting News