Three Sunshine State schools among college football's most hated teams
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"Haters gonna hate" is a popular refrain in modern parlance, and the trope is as relevant in collegiate sports as any context.
Recently, CBS Sports writer Brad Crawford put together his rankings of the 10 most-hated college football teams of all time, which included a trio of Sunshine State schools: the Florida Gators, Florida State Seminoles and Miami Hurricanes. Those three universities have a combined 11 national championships dating back to 1983, so it should not come as a major surprise that they have earned the ire of other fan bases at some point.
On his list, the Orange and Blue's 1996 squad ranks the lowest of the three, checking in at No. 5. Interestingly, Florida's most-hated team is the only one that took home the trophy among the three Sunshine State schools mentioned.
"Before Tim Tebow and Urban Meyer's hated success at Florida, there was Steve Spurrier," Crawford begins. "The Fun-N-Gun was his specialty, and just about every quarterback in Gainesville he had could throw it around the yard to what seemed like a conveyor belt of high-end wide receivers during his tenure.
"This 1996 team was different, though. Spurrier's slick-talking at the microphone was abundant behind the prowess of Heisman-winning quarterback Danny Wuerffel, who guided the Gators to five wins over top-15 teams and a national championship. The Head Ball Coach was due at Florida to get a ring after five previous top-10 finishes without a title, and much to everyone's chagrin, he came through against Florida State in the Sugar Bowl, 52-20."
In the middle is the Garnet and Gold's 2014 campaign, largely due to the presence of one particularly polarizing player.
"First came the Heisman Trophy and an unbeaten run to a national championship as a redshirt freshman. Then, 'free' crab legs from Publix during spring practice the following season. Jameis Winston was strikingly flamboyant as Florida State's face of the program and was the primary factor in all the hate for the preseason top-ranked Seminoles in 2014," Crawford offers.
"Those anticipating Florida State to be upset weekly didn't find pleasure until an unexpected College Football Playoff implosion inside the Rose Bowl against Oregon that snapped the Seminoles' nation-leading 29-game winning streak. Many of Winston's most epic career quotes came during his NFL tenure. However, he offered up soundbite gold after his turnover-filled outing against the Ducks," he continues.
"'It hurts badder than whatever you can imagine,' Winston said after losing for the first time in his career as a starter. 'But the good thing is we live to fight another day. But it ain't over yet.'
"It was over, actually. Winston declared for the 2015 NFL draft a few days later and was the eventual No. 1 overall pick."
Finally, the most-hated team of all time is the 1986 Hurricanes, who played during a time when rules were disproportionately enforced on some teams but not others (c.f., Florida's stripped SEC title in 1984 and subsequent punishment). Miami was the recipient of the laissez-faire end of the stick and deserved every bit of indignation it received.
"The birth of 'The U' under Jimmy Johnson is when the Hurricanes truly became college football's bad boys. On a team loaded with future NFL talent, Johnson essentially didn't believe in suspensions and handled all disciplinary action 'in-house' — whatever that meant during a time of little to no NCAA regulation. That included several slap-on-the-wrist penalties for alleged shoplifting and fraud infractions involving his top talent," Crawford notes.
"Miami's swag wasn't enough in the national championship game against Penn State after the Hurricanes infamously stepped off the plane in military fatigues. Heisman-winning Miami quarterback Vinny Testaverde threw five interceptions, and the Hurricanes fell, 14-10, for their only loss of the season.
"Over five seasons with the Hurricanes, Johnson went 52-9 with a national title in 1987 and three top-3 finishes, putting together one of the greatest runs of all-time. The 1986 team, though, was the nastiest group," he concludes.
That UM team was also the oldest on Crawford's list. Below is a look at the full top 10 rankings.
CBS Sports' 10 most hated college football teams of all time
- Miami Hurricanes (1986)
- USC Trojans (2005)
- Florida State Seminoles (2013)
- Auburn Tigers (2010)
- Florida Gators (1996)
- Oklahoma Sooners (2017)
- Texas A&M Aggies (2012)
- Ohio State Buckeyes (2002)
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish (1993)
- Alabama Crimson Tide (2011)
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Most hated college football teams include Florida, FSU, Miami
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