Florida cancels home-and-home series with Notre Dame in 2031, 2032

Just one day after the news that a 24-team College Football Playoff will become reality emerged, Florida has reportedly canceled a series with a major non-conference opponent. On3’s Brett McMurphy reports that Florida has scrubbed a home-and-home series with Notre Dame for 2031 and 2032. The Associated Press notes that Florida was able to use a clause in the contract to void the series without a financial penalty. The deal for the series was originally signed before the SEC moved to nine conference games, and the clause will utilize that change as an escape valve. [ $39.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | Rivals national coverage ] In recent years, Florida has moved to eliminate a number of power conference games as it became clear the Southeastern Conference was going to move to nine games. Series with Arizona State, California and NC State have already been removed from the schedule. The program is still currently slated to face Colorado in 2028 and 2029, as well as UCF in 2030 and 2033. Otherwise, the non-conference schedule will consist mainly of the school’s annual rivalry game with ACC foe Florida State. The moves come with the sport in a turbulent period, and school administrators are grappling with how to give their programs the best chance of success. A new rule stemming from the adoption of the 24-team playoff is the requirement that all power conference schools face 10 power conference opponents per year. Florida will be covered by playing nine SEC games plus Florida State. The appetite for much more apparently isn’t there for now, despite indications from other leagues that the adoption of 24-team playoff would be incentive to beef up schedules. The Big Ten was particularly vocal on that front. “We need to play more good games,” Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti said in early October. “I think we’ve been really clear about that. We think that the season can start way better than it does. We’re committed to that. If we get to a 24-team playoff, you are going to see many more competitive games scheduled. That’s my belief. “We’ll commit to that. I say we’ll do it, we’ll actually commit to doing it and we’re spending a lot of time trying to prepare for that. It takes a little bit of time to change schedules, as you know, as teams have commitments. You’re going to see many more games. If 24 does happen, you will see the incentives change. I really believe that you’ll see us start the schedule [better].”