After Wednesday's mistakenly leaked Michigan vs. Florida I have learned from several well placed sources in the Michigan Athletic Dept. that Michigan and Florida will definitely play a prime time football game on Sept 2, 2017 at a location to be announced soon.
Where will the game be played? Some have speculated Dallas in Jerry World, others have mentioned Atlanta, while Miami was even rumored.... but, none of those places are as likely as New York City. Yes, NYC, or more specifically MetLife Stadium, home of the NFL's Jets and Giants, located in East Rutherford, NJ.
So, why the Gators and why New York?
There is a lot of mutual respect between Will Muschamp and Brady Hoke, who both see the other as running a clean program, with solid student-athletes who are competing against programs (OSU, Bama, LSU, etc) who are doing everything wrong when it comes to running a program that you can be proud of. Both coaches have grown to despise Nick Saban and Urban Meyer and have even gone as far as recommending each others school to recruits considering Bama or OSU. The coaches see this as a game that will match two of college football's best runs programs and classiest fan bases, in a major city over a holiday weekend (Labor Day), a major win and spotlight for both teams and coaches. Additionally, Florida recruits the northeast corridor heavily and would love to get further brand recognition in NY/NJ/PA.
There is some hold up in announcing the game. For one, both schools are demanding a $5 million payday, which would equal or exceed a home revenues for each school. The decision makers at MetLife Stadium have not yet agreed to a fixed dollar amount that high and there is no certainty that they will. Two groups that have been willing to pay that amount to make the game happen are Jerry Jones (Dallas) and the new 49ers stadium located in Santa Clara, CA, yet neither Michigan nor Florida see this game as enticing as NYC.
When Michigan went to look for a game to kick off the 2017 season, there was a lot of hope that an opponent who "does things right" while still playing at a high level in a major conference could be found. The schools that Michigan AD Dave Brandon targeted were: Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, Texas, Stanford and Washington. There were several teams interested, but Florida was the only school that was willing to travel anywhere, anytime to make the game happen.
There is a strong chance that an official announcement could come within the next 6 weeks, but the MetLife officials would have to agree on a guaranteed take home for that to happen. Stay tuned for more Michigan vs. Florida news.
Michigan is 2-0 all time vs. Florida, winning bowl games after the 2002 and 2007 season.
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