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By Brian Jones
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The Florida Gators have canceled an upcoming home-and-home series with a major FBS program days after the announcement of the College Football Playoff expansion.
According to On3's Brett McMurphy, Florida has called off its series with Notre Dame for 2031 and 2032. The deal for the home-and-home series was originally signed with Notre Dame in 2021, when the SEC was playing eight conference games, according to the Associated Press.
Florida used a clause in the contract to get out of the deal without being penalized financially. The move led to Notre Dame announcing a home-and-home series against Washington to be played in 2031 and 2034.
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The clause in the contract was that Florida could leave the deal if the SEC's schedule expanded to nine games. The AP pointed out that Florida had a hard time justifying playing nine league games, a game against Florida State, and a national title contender like Notre Dame in back-to-back seasons.
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Florida HC Talks Challenges of Expanded SEC Schedule
"If we find a way to just go 1-0 every week for the next four weeks, who knows where you stand at that point in the chaos we're all in in college football right now," Florida head coach Jon Sumrall said about the SEC schedule earlier this month. "If you could find your way to 9-3 at the end, there's a lot of possibilities that can happen with what else is going on in the world."
"You're going to see really good football teams in this conference 9-3, like really good teams end up 9-3 some years, like teams that in the past may have been 11-1 because you're adding a game," Sumrall added. "And it's not just the one game that you add, it's how it affects your football team's health and availability for the rest of the year.
"Every SEC game we've played, we've walked out on Sunday, and I'm like, 'Well, the injury report got a little longer.' … Every week guys don't realize how beat up they are, and then they wake up the next morning like, 'Oh my gosh, I feel this or feel that.' It's like you get in (weekly) car wrecks."
Florida has played Notre Dame only once, which was on New Year's Day in 1992. The Fighting Irish defeated the Gators 39-28 in the Sugar Bowl played in New Orleans.
This year, Florida is 5-4 and 3-4 in the SEC. Notre Dame is 8-1 and ranked No. 3 in the latest AP Poll.
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