Florida–Kentucky rivalry
American college sports rivalry / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Florida–Kentucky rivalry is a college sports rivalry between the University of Florida Gators and the University of Kentucky Wildcats. The rivalry between these schools, both founding members of the Southeastern Conference,[1] has existed since before the conference's founding. Both teams are historic basketball rivals, both winning multiple national championships and conference championships over the past 100 years. In recent years, the football rivalry between Kentucky and Florida has escalated due to Kentucky breaking a streak of 31 consecutive years where the Florida Gators had beaten them. Despite the lopsidedness of the football series, Kentucky has won four of the last six appearances between the two.
Due to each team enjoying large periods of time of dominance in their respective sports, the two team's fan bases are incredibly hostile towards each other. Examples of this include:
- In 2017, several Kentucky football fans received backlash for displaying a sign making fun of Hurricane Irma. The sign said: "If Hurricane Irma didn't FUK (sic) you up, CATS will."[2][3]
- In their February 2023 men's basketball meeting, an usher at Rupp Arena "Doug the Blue Coat" was fired by the University of Kentucky after showing his middle finger to several Florida Gators' fans. This firing resulted in a Kentucky student-led campaign to have the usher rehired under the hashtag "#FreeDoug."[4]
- During that same game, 3 Florida fans were ejected after grabbing Kentucky guard Cason Wallace.[5]
- In recent years, the University of Kentucky has licensed merchandise with companies that sell clothing that say "Gator Hater" or "Later Gator" on them.
- While this rivalry is predominantly focused on men's sports, it's worth noting that in March 2023, a fight broke out between the Kentucky and Florida women's basketball teams. This fight resulted in 8 ejections.[6]
- In the 2023 meeting between the two football teams, multiple different Florida fans would be ejected from Kroger Field for fighting Kentucky fans.[7]