Few things in college football are as vital to the sport’s appeal and success as its vast array of rivalries. From Army-Navy to the Iron Bowl, rivalry games are, in many ways, the lifeblood of college football.
Of course, not every rivalry can be on the same level as, say, Michigan-Ohio State, and perhaps no example can illustrate this point better than college football’s newest rivalry – The Civil Conflict.
And what two programs with a long history of bad blood and thrilling games are squaring off in the Civil Conflict, you ask? Why, UConn and UCF of course!
If you’re wondering why the hell these two programs would be considered rivals, well, so is UCF. The idea for this rivalry is the brainchild of UConn’s eccentric head coach, Bob Diaco, who first threw around the idea after the Huskies and the Knights met last November.
Turns out Diaco made good on his idea, even creating a trophy for the Civil Conflict. The trophy includes the score of last year’s game (a shocking 37-29 upset win by the Huskies), but curiously omits a 62-17 drubbing by the Knights in 2013, when Paul Pasqualoni was still UConn’s head coach, which was the first meeting between these two teams.
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
But the best part about the Civil Conflict and its corresponding trophy? UCF apparently had no idea that Diaco was doing this.
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
Naturally, when this trophy was unveiled, nearly everybody had some fun at the expense of Diaco for trying to create a rivalry between a pair of programs that have no prior history to speak of and are in no way close geographically.
However, perhaps we’re all looking at this the wrong way.
Sure, the Civil Conflict is a ridiculous idea for a rivalry game with an equally ridiculous name, and Bob Diaco seems to be on a one-man crusade to make himself the punch line of jokes from college football fans all across the country. But Diaco and the Huskies already made the damn trophy, and these two AAC East foes are going to be playing each other on an annual basis anyway, so I say that we welcome the Civil Conflict into the college football world with open arms.
Bob Diaco may march to the beat of his own drum, but give him a little credit for trying to add some flare to a program that seems to be stuck in a rut of perpetual inferiority.
There’s a decent chance that this trophy gets shoved into a storage closet somewhere and the Civil Conflict fades into obscurity (well, more so than it is already) if Diaco gets fired within the next few years, so let’s enjoy this “rivalry while we still have the chance.
Embrace Bob Diaco. Embrace the Civil Conflict.
Only 121 days until the showdown in Orlando.
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