An early look at the best college football games in 2018 in Florida

The University of South Florida and UCF released their 2018 college football schedules on Tuesday, meaning fans of all of the state’s Big Five programs know what’s ahead in the fall.

So, with the start of the season still more than six months away, here’s an early look at the premier games that will be played in the Sunshine State involving Florida, Florida State, Miami, USF and UCF.

Oct. 6: FSU at Miami

The “U” is back, right?

The 2017 season – at least the first 10 games – was a magical ride for Miami fans as coach Mark Richt had the Hurricanes ahead of schedule.

Manatee High alumnus Willie Taggart was hired as Florida State’s coach in December and he quickly assembled a staff that drove FSU’s recruiting class to No. 11 in the nation by National Signing Day.

We might be getting closer to the 1990s heyday of this rivalry.

Oct. 27: Clemson at FSU

This ACC tilt has gone a long way to determine a representative in the conference title game and the national college football playoff.

Clemson has gotten the upper hand the past three seasons. FSU won each meeting from 2012-14 and there aren’t many blowouts in recent meetings between these rivals.

The last time this game was held in Tallahassee, in 2016, the Seminoles lost by three points and Clemson went on to win the national title.

Oct. 27: Georgia vs. Florida (in Jacksonville)

After a dominating run in the series, Florida has won just three times in the past seven meetings.

That said, Georgia has just seven victories over Florida since 1990, though the Bulldogs were a national title contender in 2017 after blowing out the Gators, 42-7.

Georgia lost to Alabama in overtime in the national title game and is expected to contend again in 2018.

Nov. 23: UCF at USF

The annual War on I-4 was a key victory for UCF last season – 49-42 in what some called the game of the year – when the Knights went unbeaten and proclaimed themselves national champions.

Scott Frost is no longer the head coach, bolting for his alma mater, Nebraska, after winning the American Athletic Conference crown, and the game saw Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn lose a friendly wager with Orlando’s mayor in 2017.

The game also pits former Manatee County high school stars such as UCF’s Sam Jackson against USF’s Darrien Grant, Michael Gulati, Greg Reaves and Brooks Larkin.

Nov. 24: Florida at FSU

If you’re not from South Florida, there usually are two types of college football fans who are Florida natives: Gators or Seminoles.

The longstanding rivalry game didn’t have national implications last season, as both struggled and failed to love up to expectations.

That said, both programs have new coaches (Dan Mullen in Gainesville, Taggart in Tallahassee), which should help bring the fierce rivalry back to national prominence.

This story was originally published February 13, 2018 at 4:55 PM with the headline "An early look at the best college football games in 2018 in Florida."