Well, the start of the 2019 NFL season, the 100th season of the NFL, was rough for Florida teams across the board. The Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Jacksonville Jaguars all lost their opening day games. The Dolphins were crushed 59-10 against the Baltimore Ravens. Ouch! This was expected as the Ravens had made the playoffs the year before and the Dolphins have traded three of their five best players away a week before the season. The Jacksonville Jaguars lost their opening game to the Kansas City Chiefs 40-26. The Jags also lost their new starting quarterback, Super Bowl MVP and winner Nick Foles, for the season after he broke his clavicle. Tampa Bay lost to the San Francisco 49ers 31-17. This was not a fun opener for the three professional NFL teams in Florida. This might be a long season for Florida sports fans who love the college game as well.
Miami Hurricanes Lose Again, Start Off 0-2
Football is back for college sports as well as the pros. The University of Miami (UM) lost its second game in a row to start the season. Losing back to back games to begin the year had not happened since 1978. UM has been in the Atlantic Coastal Conference since 2003 and has not won a single ACC title in their 16 years of trying. People who refer to the University of Miami as the “U”, (which means simply “University”) might have to come up with a better nickname to refer to the University of Miami. There are 131 universities in Division 1 football, the “University” is easily the most confusing nickname in college sports as there is no differentiation or significance of the nickname. However, it is not confused to see UM fans holding up the “U” symbol, which consists of two conjoined “L” handshapes, are signifying the back-to-back losses the University of Miami has earned to start the 2019 season.
Meanwhile, Florida State University, another ACC team, also lost their opening game. FSU fell 31-35 to Boise State in their first game and nearly lost their second game. If not for the opposing team missing an extra point with seconds remaining in overtime, FSU would also be winless like the University of Miami. The University of South Florida has also lost both of their opening games to start the season.
Not All Florida Unversity Football Teams Are Losers!
Among the Florida universities that won, the University of Central Florida and the University of Florida both saw victory. The 17th ranked UCF Knights beat the Florida Atlantic University Owls 48 to 14. After narrowly winning over UM in the first week, 9th ranked Florida went on to win 45-0 over TN-Martin. The Florida Gators look to continue their quest to go back to the South Eastern Conference (SEC) Championship again, last appearing in 2017. Florida has remarkably won the SEC title 14 times since 1992. The SEC is the best conference in college football by all accounts.
The SEC has claimed the National Championship of college football (the top team and voted the best in college football) ten times since 2006, including two championships by the Florida Gators. The SEC is considered the top conference in college football over the past 20 seasons. Florida has the best chance to win another championship over the other Florida universities despite playing in the tougher conference, unlike fellow Florida universities that are in the ACC or other divisions. The ACC has only had three national championships since the start of the century, twice of which belong to Clemson with Florida State being the other. For more facts about the 2019 NFL and NCAA football season, check with us here at Florida Insider!
Chris began his writing as a hobby while attending Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida. Today he and his wife live in the Orlando area with their three children and dog.
