A Brief History of the Rivalry Between FSU and Miami Football

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at FSU chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

It’s a well-known fact that FSU’s overwhelmingly biggest rival is the University of Florida. However, when FSU played against the University of Miami on Oct. 4, 2025, fans of both the Seminoles and the Hurricanes showed up in huge numbers to cheer on their respective teams.

It was such a popular football game, in fact, that most of the people I know didn’t even get student tickets. I, however, was lucky enough to snag one, and let me tell you, the energy in the stadium was electric. People from both fan bases came out hours beforehand to tailgate and trash talk.

Why was this specific game such a big deal? It wasn’t against the Gators, so why did we feel such a personal stake?

The Football stats

Ever since their first head-to-head in 1951, there have only been six years that these teams haven’t played each other. Though Miami has an overall lead over FSU when it comes to games they’ve won, the stats are definitely still close enough to consider the Noles and the ‘Canes about evenly matched (let’s not bring up the events of Oct. 4 for my own sanity).

Both teams have also been ranked many times in their histories, with Miami ranked third for our most recent head-to-head, which explains the nervous feeling that many FSU fans felt leading up to the game.

It’s always going to be a more interesting watch when you know neither team isn’t necessarily doing badly close to a game, even if Virginia bruised our egos just a little bit the week before on Sept. 26.

The stakes

With both teams affiliated with the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference), there are going to be some implications depending on who takes the win. This can affect scouting opportunities, rankings, and even post-season tournaments.

Not to mention the fact that FSU didn’t have the best 2024 season, so beating a high-ranked team this year would’ve solidified that the Alabama game on Aug. 30 wasn’t a fluke. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until our next opportunity to prove ourselves.

The score for FSU vs. Miami boosted Miami in rankings and plummeted FSU back down, but it’s not something that we can’t come back from; the team just has to use this as motivation moving forward!

The fights

Most of the time, two “football schools” in the same state are going to have some things to say about each other. Fans of the sport are no strangers to trash talk, but Miami fans are especially passionate.

According to my mother, who was a member of the FSU Marching Chiefs in the early ’90s, she and her bandmates needed to have police escorts into the stadium every time they went to Miami. The Marching Chiefs’ buses would also need to be driven away from the stadium to ensure they wouldn’t be broken into.

While we may be used to more security now, this was back when things like this weren’t as common. The Miami fans would get very aggressive, and the Marching Chiefs quite literally needed the protection. Of course, FSU fans weren’t always angels themselves. It isn’t unusual for fans to get into disagreements over their beloved teams, but it’s definitely been a known problem between the two schools for a while.

The curse of the “wide right”

On Nov. 6, 1991, FSU lost to Miami because of a “Wide Right” field goal at the end of the fourth quarter. This was when we were ranked No. 1 with Miami being No. 2, so it’s safe to say the tension was high. This wasn’t just a one-time thing; FSU must’ve been cursed in the ’90s to the early 2000s because it just seemed to keep going.

It happened again in 1992, again in 2000, and would you believe me if I said it happened a fourth time in 2004? Now, the term “Wide Right” is often used to mock FSU whenever Miami fans blow into town.

With FSU based in North Florida and Miami holding down the south, these teams have a long history of hatred. However, the Noles will just have to wait and see how the real war will go down when we face the team that really matters. Gators, watch out!

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