By: JJ Lanier

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Some rivalries are formed due to their close proximity to each other. Some rivalries are forged on the field or court due to memorable games, indelibly ingrained in your mind for years. Other rivalries come about because both programs have sustained a level of excellence unmatched by most programs.

What makes a rivalry special is when you can combine all three of these aspects; something Georgia and Florida have come close to achieving in the past, it has just never quite gotten there.

Location has never really been the issue, not because the schools are all that close to each other, but because the game is played in Jacksonville every year.

Normally, I’m not a fan of playing an entire series at a neutral location, but in this case it works.

Whether it’s allowing an equal number of Georgia and Florida fans to attend on a yearly basis, or making it easier to attach a moniker like “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party”, the central location in Jacksonville has really enhanced the game and rivalry.

As for the games themselves, there have been some really great ones, the problem is most of them took place years ago.

Recently, the games haven’t been all that competitive or memorable. There also hasn’t been a ton of parity between the two teams.

By that I mean in most cases the rivalry has been dominated by one team or the other. It’s been a little better in recent years, but even looking at the past twelve seasons the programs have just alternated three-year winning streaks.

Part of the reason the dominance has see-sawed back and forth is even though both teams have seen some level of sustained excellence, rarely have they both experienced it at the same time.

Over the last twenty years, only three of games were played with both teams being in the Top 10. (Two of those games have taken place in the last two years, so that’s at least a sign things might be changing.)

That’s not to say the games can’t be great unless they’re both ranked in the Top 10, but if you’re trying to attract a national audience, which is needed if you want it to be considered a top tier rivalry, having something on the line certainly helps.

Miami and Florida State is a perfect example. Their games from the mid-80’s through the early 00’s were some of the most memorable in college football and almost always had national title implications.

Regardless of where you lived, or what teams you rooted for, that was the game you tuned in to watch.

Now that neither team has been relevant for years, outside of Jameis Winston’s tenure in Tallahassee, the game is merely a blip on the college football radar.

As I alluded to briefly, if you desire the rivalry to be perceived as one of the best in the nation, the future looks promising.

Both teams have excellent coaches, who don’t seem to have ambitions of leaving their respective schools to go along with top of the line sports facilities and strong recruiting pipelines- all important attributes to not only reach the pinnacle, but to stay there.

The Georgia/Florida game has all the makings of becoming a great, nationally recognized rivalry.

The last two years have been a good start; could this year’s game be the one to put them over the edge?