A week into the 2025 season, it looked like the state of Florida could be the epicenter of college football. USF had pounded Boise State in an early-season Group of Six clash, Florida State pulled the upset over Alabama, and Miami outlasted Notre Dame. USF had yet to break through into the Top 25, but Florida, FSU, and Miami were all ranked inside the top 14 at 1-0.
Now, 13 weeks later, Miami is sitting on the outside of the College Football Playoff looking in, Florida has fired its coach, and Florida State fans wish their program would do the same. The Gators and Seminoles are set to renew their rivalry once again on Saturday afternoon in Gainesville, but without much of the pomp and circumstance that typically accompanies it.
ESPN’s College Gameday won’t be on the scene for the 3-8 Gators led by interim head coach Billy Gonzales, hosting the 5-6 Seminoles, who had to release a vote of confidence for Mike Norvell heading into 2026. In fact, an afterthought for the network altogether.
Relegated to ESPN2, Jay Alter, Rocky Boiman, and Marilyn Payne will be on the call for the Sunshine Showdown, leaving fans on both sides asking, who?
On the call for Florida-Florida State (4:30 p.m. | ESPN2)
— Nick de la Torre (@delatorre) November 24, 2025
Play-by-Play: Jay Alter
Analyst: Rocky Boiman
Reporter: Marilyn Payne
Florida vs. Florida State relegated to ESPN2
No disrespect to Alter, Boiman, and Payne, who I’m sure do wonderful work, but as someone who watches college football for a living, these names are unfamiliar to me (as mine would undoubtedly be to them). Still, the channel and the crew send a message about how ESPN views the importance of this game, and it’s not a good one for these two programs.
Florida and Florida State desperately need to turn their programs around and do so quickly. It’s a wonderful thing that Miami, Florida State, and Florida all still play every season, but it’s even more special when the games mean something more than the Seminoles fighting for bowl eligibility while Florida spends the entire week begging for Lane Kiffin to come and save them because he wears a visor like Steve Spurrier did.
When Florida was No. 13 and Florida State No. 14 in the Week 2 AP Poll, it wasn’t so hard to conjure up a vision of this game being for an at-large bid into the College Football Playoff. Instead, it’ll be a total afterthought on Rivalry Week as programs from all over the country see an opportunity to pluck the top high school talent out of Florida.