Florida AD: ‘mutual interest’ in playing Miami

DESTIN, Fla. (AP) - Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley said Wednesday there is “mutual interest” in playing in-state rival Miami again.

Speaking at the Southeastern Conference meetings, Foley said he spoke with Hurricanes athletic director Blake James briefly about organizing a neutral-site game between the two schools.

The game probably would be played in Tampa or Orlando, although other cities could be in the mix.

“I think there’s a mutual interest to maybe do something,” Foley said. “We don’t have our conference schedule and dates yet going forward, so I couldn’t even give him a weekend that we could discuss. I think at some point in time that may make sense. What that point in time is I don’t know, but it’s not imminent.”

Florida and Miami last played in 2013, with the Hurricanes winning 21-16 in the back end of a two-game, home-and-home series that started in 2008.

Miami has won seven of the last eight meetings, and when Foley said before the 2013 game that it might be the last outside of a bowl matchup, Hurricane fans said the Gators were running scared.

The teams played annually between 1944 and 1987, until Florida ended the series because of Southeastern Conference expansion.

They have played six times since - four regular-season games and twice in bowls.

“It’s certainly not a renewal of the series,” Foley said. “If it’s a game that would work out and be beneficial to both programs, and the dates would work, then it would make sense.”