Idaho cancels rescheduled football game against Florida in 2017 after scheduling Missouri

By Adam Silverstein
March 21, 2015

A severe lightning storm resulted in the Florida Gators and Idaho Vandals canceling their 2014 season-opening game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida, on Saturday, Aug. 30. It was decided that the contest, which was first delayed and then permanently suspended due to weather, would not be made up that season.

It now appears as if the rescheduled game, set to take place in 2017 as part of the cancellation contract, will not go off as planned either.


As a result of the 2014 cancellation, Florida agreed to pay Idaho its contractually agreed upon sum of $975,000 by Feb. 1, 2015; the Gators and Vandals also decided to schedule a contest as part of their 2017 season slates.

“We look forward to our return to Florida in 2017,” said Idaho athletic director Rob Spear as part of a press release on the subject.

According to the Spokesman Review, Idaho and Mizzou this week agreed to square off on Oct. 21, 2017, with the Tigers paying the Vandals $1.3 million for the opportunity.

As a result, Spear said Idaho will no longer travel to UF that season with the showdown between the schools now “in a season yet to be determined,” according to the paper.

In addition to its annual contest against Florida State, Florida is scheduled to face New Mexico, East Carolina and FAU in nonconference 2015 home games. The Gators have UMass, North Texas and an open slot on schedule for 2016. In 2017, Florida will open the season with a neutral site contest against Michigan. It could also add Colorado State to its schedule that season as UF and CSU agreed to a game in Gainesville between 2017-20 as part of the Gators’ buyout of head coach Jim McElwain.

10 Comments

  1. like rm says:

    So could we get some money back?

    • 1974Gator says:

      Sorry, your comment didn’t show up on my system until mine posted.

      • The money was for the 2014 game. The 2017 game would’ve been a new payment.

        • Chuck says:

          I guess Idaho fans may justifiably see this as a step up in competition considering UFs current stature relative to Mizzou’s success during their time in the SEC. Sad but totally true. I notice the fee paid by Mizzou is also half again larger. Mizzou now has money to burn having joined the SEC, but maybe that is the going rate these days. I’d bet we weren’t willing to match or even come remotely close. You really can’t blame Idaho once the money difference is $400k. And thus, UF season ticket holders will continue to get the worst of the worst of the worst replacement. An embarrassment of an opponent to be deservedly laughed at and mocked across the CFB landscape. I’d imagine Idaho will rank magnitudes better than the crap the AD will make people pay for if they want tickets to see a team in Florida (who is not able to recruit QBS or any WRs for some excuse or another) get destroyed by the real teams that come to town.

          I really, really feel we have been left behind by the schools who were willing to spend the new SEC money on the actual product. It is nice to say half goes to academics or what not. But it makes our football a joke. Foley bowed down to pressure and is now erecting a metal shed for an indoor practice facility. Better off just not doing that at all. It is an embarrassment to the school and doesn’t compete at all. It’s a horse shed. Don’t get me wrong, I think it is absurd what this arms race has become. But it is the reality and we are getting “swamped”. So don’t be mad when people say UF has the worst facilities in the SEC. It will soon be true. Bar none. And that is fine if it fits your philosophical beliefs of what a college should be. Totally fine. Just accept that your biggest sports will be a joke. Make the trade-off and deal with it.

          I hope like hell McElwain is magic. The same kinda magic that brought UF back from the dead in 1990. If he doesn’t work miracles with half as much financial support the rest of this league now expects and demands…this goose is cooked till another Spurrier type comes along and resurrects it 30 years down the road. It is hard to believe we have repeated history. Smart people don’t. But the school with all the natural advantages, all the money, all the other resources…has recreated the Doug Dickey era for no good reason at all. It is disgusting how lackadaisical this alum is in pressuring things the right way.

          • Razzlegator says:

            If I was king, comments that are longer than the original post would never see the light of day. I would also outlaw ice cream headaches.

          • 1974Gator says:

            You sound like a Semi-hole or site lurking low-life. Take your poison somewhere else.

          • Daniel M. says:

            Lamenting the loss of a date with the Idaho Vandals?

            Does wearing hate goggles give you a headache? You must be a blast to hang out with. I got fifty bucks that says you spend an inordinate amount of time watching cynical political pundit talk shows. (((cough::FOXnews::cough)) Yes, Florida football has been a mess but you sir are just miserable, and wildly misinformed I might add. Gotta run, O’Reilly is coming on.

            • 1974Gator says:

              let’s be fair and balanced here…..
              Or watching cynical political pundit talk shows like “Real Time with Bill Maher”, rants by Randi Rhodes and Mike Malloy or most any political commentaries on CNN.

  2. 1974Gator says:

    No great loss. Do they get to keep ALL of the money?

  3. Sgt. Friday says:

    I am going to have a hard time getting any sleep now that the ‘showdown” is canceled. As for Chuck’s comments, I don’t think UF is going to revert back to being irrelevant like they were in the 70’s. UF is irrelevant now, but if the new coach is any good, a trip to Atlanta should happen soon. As far as the schedule goes, as long as there are people foolish enough to pat to go see the creampuffs UF schedules at home, what reason does Foley have to play stronger teams? IF you want to see UF schedule a real team, stay away from the games against the paid victims. If Foley starts losing money on the stiffs, he’ll be forced to schedule a real team.

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