UCF football's ongoing feud with Florida has now bled into the offseason.
The latest chapter in this story stems from a comment UCF quarterback McKenzie Milton posted on an Instagram post making fun of his team. Milton, or someone on his account, responded to a meme saying "Florida wants UCF" after the Gators' 41-15 win over Michigan in the Peach Bowl. Milton took issue with that, and responded.
MORE: Loss to LSU ends UCF's title discussions, but G5 battle isn't over
The backstory: Florida (10-3) and UCF (12-1) have discussed the possibility of playing each other, with Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin in favor of a two-for-one series in which the Gators travel once to Orlando and the Knights travel twice to Gainesville. UCF athletic director Danny White has openly scoffed at that, saying it's not a deal a "top 10" program would take.
Then there's the perception that Florida ducked UCF in the Peach Bowl for fear of losing to an in-state Group of 5 opponent. In reality, it seems there's a handshake agreement between the Playoff committee and Peach Bowl that keeps it from hosting Group of 5 teams in consecutive years.
There's something else to note: Milton responded to the original post before UCF's 40-32 loss to LSU in the Fiesta Bowl, a game Milton wasn't able to play in because of an injury. So this isn't a case of UCF losing, then Milton turning around and saying it was still better than Florida, which beat LSU earlier in the year.
It's more likely he got fed up with material posted at his team's expense and responded accordingly.
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It's fair to say UCF football has been a target among college football fans after it declared itself the 2017 national champion. The Knights have antagonized college football's biggest power brokers while creating discussions about the Group of 5 and its role in the notoriously exclusive College Football Playoff. Whether you agree with his sentiment that UCF is a "better program" than Florida (the Knights are 25-1 since 2017, while the Gators are 14-10) is irrelevant.
Besides, Milton's defense of his team isn't even the worst thing players tweeted this postseason. That distinction clearly belongs to Georgia players who openly questioned on Twitter why Notre Dame and Oklahoma were in the Playoff, and not "the best four teams," which presumably would somehow include Georgia.
Three days later, the Bulldogs put up a bland performance that saw them lose 28-21 to Texas in a Sugar Bowl that wasn't as close as the score suggests. That prompted this response from Oklahoma center Creed Humphrey, whose team lost 45-34 to No. 1 Alabama in the Orange Bowl.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 https://t.co/s1lCbvR9ip
— Creed Humphrey (@creed_humphrey) January 2, 2019
That said: Milton's post will do nothing to engender solidarity for UCF among the rest of the college football fandom.
