You’re in The Swamp. As 90,000 fans are on their feet, the sun melts your face after you lost your voice sometime in the second quarter. Or maybe you’re in Jacksonville, listening to the echoing cheers of “Go Gators!” and looking at a chaotic sea of orange and blue at the Florida-Georgia game. Somewhere across the field, a Georgia fan is barking like a dog.
This is college football in the SEC, where rivalries are the backbone of collegiate sports culture, and school colors course through loyal fans’ veins like blood.
As a Florida fan, being able to throw out a perfect Gator chomp — it’s right over left, in case anyone hasn’t told you — and sing every word to “I Won’t Back Down” is a good start, but it’s not enough.
You’re also expected to know who to boo, who to trash-talk and why a casual mention of “The U” or “Go Dawgs” might earn you a death stare from upperclassmen.
University of Georgia
Formerly called the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party,” Florida’s yearly matchup against Georgia in Jacksonville is an intense game with a split crowd. In a neutral city, the rivalry is less about home-field advantage and more about bragging rights. As the Gators bring their chomp and Georgia fans bring their famous bulldog bark (yes, it’s as loud and relentless as you imagine), a century-old rivalry full of close calls, wild finishes and legendary moments continues to deliver every year since 1915.
Kyle Nolasco, an 18-year-old UF finance major, can’t help but poke fun at Georgia fans’ infamous antics.
“They bark,” Nolasco said. “Like, dude, you’re not a dog.”
In the 102 meetings between Florida and Georgia, both teams have enjoyed dominant stretches, with each boasting a seven-year win streak at different points in time. The Bulldogs lead the all-time series 56-44-2 and currently possess a four-year win streak over the Gators. However, momentum in this rivalry is never guaranteed.
For Georgia, the yearly pilgrimage to face the Gators in Jacksonville stands alongside its annual Auburn and Georgia Tech games as one of the program's most legendary showdowns. The matchup’s neutral setting is what makes the rivalry stand out. The chaotic battleground and schools’ long-standing shared disdain give the games a personal edge that is unusual in home-and-home rivalries.
Liam Dreesen, a 22-year-old UGA journalism major and sports editor for The Red & Black, explained that the gameday atmosphere is usually chippy and that being at the Florida-Georgia games in person allows you to catch the moments that TV cameras miss, all while soaking in an electric crowd.
“It’s definitely one of the more personal rivalries that Georgia has, is in that Florida game, especially because it’s held at that neutral site each year,” Dreesen said. “I would say there’s definitely a little bit of hate there.”
As a Gator, the Florida-Georgia game is a must-watch for your time at UF and a classic example of a fiery SEC rivalry. Alumni and students alike feed into the strong rivalry, and with a buzzing gameday atmosphere in Jacksonville, this clash has to be seen in person.
“Good rivalry games are always nice to have,” Dreesen said. “[They] up the intensity a little bit, if not for the players, but at least for the fans.”
Florida State University
For many Gator fans, no rivalry cuts deeper than Florida State. It’s the cause for the in-state battle for bragging rights, family arguments at Thanksgiving dinner and that smug coworker who shows up in garnet and gold after an FSU win.
Manuel Alvarez, a 20-year-old UF biomedical engineering sophomore, said he can’t stand UF’s rival state school.
“I don’t like the colors, I don’t like the chants,” Alvarez said. “It doesn’t even seem to get any better, if you’ve seen any of their training camp clips.”
Unlike the neutral-ground rivalry with Georgia, Florida’s rivalry with FSU alternates between The Swamp and Tallahassee’s Doak Campbell Stadium, giving each team a chance to defend its home turf. Whether it’s a matchup of two powerhouses or an attempt to spoil playoff hopes, the annual UF-FSU game doesn’t play by the rankings.
Since the rivalry’s first game in 1958, the results have been fairly volatile, with the Gators and Seminoles rising to their highest level when playing one another. This has resulted in a record of 38-28-2 in UF’s favor. Florida’s 11-9 record against FSU over the last 20 years attests to the rivalry’s unpredictability.
Gabe Dahan, an 18-year-old UF accounting freshman, believes family ties have a large impact on who you grow up hating. His cousins went to UF and sided with their alma mater in the deep-seated in-state rivalry, he said.
“I didn’t even apply to FSU; there’s no chance I was going there,” Dahan said. “We beat them last year, so that was good, but we got to run it back. We're going to beat them again this year.”
Miami
While not as intense a state rivalry as UF-FSU, Florida’s competition with Miami has carried its own fire since 1938. The teams played every year until 1987, when the SEC expanded conference games and left less room to schedule non-conference matchups.
Adam Lichtenstein, the Miami Hurricanes beat reporter at the South Florida Sun Sentinel, said Miami fans’ disdain toward UF stems from the Gators’ shift in schedule.
“[The Hurricanes] were year in and year out the most talented, one of the best teams in college football, and that’s when the Gators stopped playing them on a yearly basis,” Lichtenstein said. “It was UF and the SEC that was the one that pulled out and not Miami.”
Although Miami doesn’t view UF as a prominent rival, Hurricane fans still bring plenty of passion to UF-UM games. Florida sparks a distinctive competitive energy when facing Miami. Lichtenstein feels more charge in the air at those games, he said.
“There will be a large amount of Florida fans there,” he said. “It’ll be a good mix, if not 50/50, then 60/40 or 65/35 with a lot of Gator fans in attendance.”
Over 57 games against UF, Miami holds a 30-27 lead. But with the two not playing annually, every meeting further fuels the rivalry. Over the past few decades, fans argue on Twitter, and the teams fight for recruits, making the UF-UM rivalry an intense, can’t-miss game in your time as a Gator.
“In-state rivalries, stuff like this, is the best part of college football,” Lichtenstein said. “The combination of both teams trying to fight their way back to prominence and both teams duking it out on the recruiting trail, I think their rivalry is in a good spot.”
Louisiana State University
Florida’s rivalry with LSU might not have the century-long history of Georgia or the in-state tenacity of FSU or Miami, but don’t let that fool you; this one gets nasty. Born from the SEC’s constant competition and made personal by wild finishes and high-stakes drama, the Gators and Tigers have butted heads since 1937.
Squaring off annually since 1971, tempers flare and trash talk flies when Florida and LSU meet. Whether it’s a fog-drenched showdown in Death Valley, a last-second goal-line stand in The Swamp or a cleat-throwing controversy, this rivalry has a knack for delivering moments that live rent-free in both fan bases' minds. Simply mentioning the words “shoe game” is enough to make a Florida fan wince.
UF freshman finance major Nolasco put it bluntly, stating the four words that every UF fan has dejectedly muttered: “Threw the damn shoe.”
Meeting 71 times and producing a 34-34-3 record, the UF-LSU rivalry is an even-keeled historic matchup where both sides flaunt success. Although Florida defeated LSU nine straight times from 1988 to 1996, LSU has recently turned the tide with its own victories from 2019 to 2023.
Koki Riley, a 26-year-old reporter for The Advocate, said LSU’s improvement against UF excited fans.
“I did this story last year, asking a whole bunch of former LSU players about what their favorite moment at Tiger Stadium was,” Riley said. “A lot of them said the game where LSU took down Florida in Tiger Stadium and how electric that atmosphere was.”
Florida and LSU produce high-octane matchups year after year. With the Tigers hosting the Gators in Death Valley following a promising 27-16 Gator victory in 2024, Sept. 13 is a date every student and fan should circle on their calendar.
Tennessee
Hating Tennessee is a rite of passage for Florida fans. UF first played the Volunteers in 1916, but the rivalry ignited in 1990 after the two played each other yearly as national powerhouses vying for SEC dominance.
Fueled by years of top-10 matchups and conference title implications, the Florida-Tennessee rivalry has burned strong through 54 games, 32 of which were won by UF.
Trevor McGee, the 20-year-old sports editor for The Daily Beacon, wrote he’s looking forward to seeing how the later matchup between Florida and Tennessee will play out. The teams usually play early in the season.
“There are tailgates with gator being cooked up on the grill and plenty of inebriated fans to further the rivalry sentiment,” McGee wrote. “But there’s also a little more juice to it than a regular SEC matchup, given the history.”
The eras of winning streaks have impacted the rivalry, he added. Although the Volunteers defeated the Gators in every meeting from 1916 to 1953, Florida defeated Tennessee every year between 1993 and 1997 and picked up an 11-game win streak from 2005 to 2015.
The rivalry is defined by eras like famed Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning’s 0-4 stint against the Gators and Florida’s 7-3 record over the last decade. Games like the Vols’ 2024 overtime win over UF show promise for the rivalry’s future between two SEC juggernauts.
“The rivalry is in good standing across all sports,” McGee said. “It’s something that I’d imagine the SEC wanting to preserve. I think there will always be excitement for a matchup between Tennessee and Florida, regardless of sport.”
Vanderbilt
The Gators and Commodores have been SEC enemies since 1945. Florida leads the all-time series 44-11-2, using every matchup in The Swamp to prove it’s a powerhouse.
Henry Oelhafen, a 2026 Vanderbilt graduate and sports editor for Vandy Hustler Sports, wrote in an email Vanderbilt fans often view Florida as a measuring stick. In recent seasons, beating UF often indicates how successful Vanderbilt’s season has been, he said.
For the first time since 1991, the Florida and Vanderbilt football teams will not play one another in 2025.
The rivalry’s future still remains bright as the universities produce electric atmospheres in other sports, including basketball, which produces an intense SEC matchup when UF visits Vanderbilt, Oelhafen said.
“I think the future of this rivalry is still very much alive,” he said. “Granted, I don’t think Vanderbilt views Florida as its biggest rival; that must be given to Tennessee. But it will always be an intense matchup when the two teams meet.”
Alabama
Florida’s games against Alabama are another matchup where the weight of two juggernauts fighting for national dominance reflects on the field.
Kicking off in 1916, Florida faced Alabama 24 times before meeting the Crimson Tide in the SEC championship in 1992. Since then, the rivalry ignited. The teams faced each other nine more times in the SEC championship from 1993 to 2020, with Alabama winning six of its 10 SEC Championship bouts with UF.
Florida holds a 14-28 all-time record against Alabama. Although the Gators and Crimson Tide don’t face off every year, their rivalry is defined by high stakes, anticipation and intensity.
With highly anticipated and intense matchups on the horizon in 2025, you’d better be ready to hit the stands and soak in the electric atmosphere at The Swamp.
As UF biomedical engineering sophomore Alvarez put it, “People who don’t like football, people who like football, everybody’s there. We’re rooting for the Gators. Everybody’s screaming, you see Gator colors everywhere. The Gator pride is really strong these days.”
Contact Curan Ahern at cahern@alligator.org. Follow him on X at @CuranAhern.
Curan is the men's tennis beat reporter and a second-year journalism sports & media major. He enjoys spending his free time with pets, at the beach and fishing.
