If you haven’t heard the news, UConn and UCF are now conference rivals.
The Civil Conflict, named by Bob Diaco in a press conference last year, is an annual game as of last year between the Knights of UCF and the Huskies of UConn. UConn’s lone conference win last year came against UCF and apparently it was enough to make a rivalry out of it.
So here we are, in the first week of June, talking about how UConn’s one AAC win was worthy of a rivalry trophy. What?
First day back on campus for #UConnFootball! And just 130 days until the next Civil Conflict with @UCF_Football ! pic.twitter.com/RgOkXiob0T
— UConn Football (@UConnFootball) June 1, 2015
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsHow did UConn pull this off? Here’s a quick four steps to follow to create your own college football rivalry.
1. Pick a rival that you have had (recent) success against.
This new rivalry is already a year old with UConn holding the first win! UConn’s 37-29 win over UCF last year was good for the Knight’s first conference loss ever and UConn’s second and final win of the season.
Forget 2013’s 62-17 smackdown Husky fans, your very own rivalry trophy begins with a UConn win!
2. Make sure your new rival is in a distant vacation-friendly location.
Not only is UCF over 1,000 miles away from UConn, but it’s also in sunny Florida that makes for a fun trip for the team every other year.
Orlando, FL isn’t just home to George O’Leary, but it’s also the home to Walt Disney World, Sea World and Lego Land is just between the UCF and USF campuses. Good choice, Bob.
3. Surprise them.
Just checked w/ @UCF_Football: “We have no involvement with the trophy or creating a rivalry game with UConn.” They were surprised by tweet. — Brandon Helwig (@UCFSports) June 1, 2015
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A real 21st century collegiate rivalry starts with a tweet. An even stealthier first move is to lead your team to an upset victory over your rival a year prior to announcing the rivalry.
The Knights took no responsibility for starting the “Civil Conflict”, but are still stuck with playing the Huskies as foes in the AAC East.
4. Have a countdown clock.
Some schools may have countdowns until opening kickoff, but Diaco’s minions have the doom clock set to the date of the Civil Conflict.
UConn will play the Knights in Orlando on October 10 for their sixth game of the year coming off an away game at BYU. For the time being, the AAC’s most one-sided rivalry will have its own countdown clock here. It’s going to be a pain to look at for the next few football-less months.
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