Dan Mullen Predicts Massive Week 1 College Football Upset

Former college football coach and current ESPN analyst, Dan Mullen, has released his picks for the biggest games in Week 1's loaded five-day slate.

However, there is one pick that's sure to draw a reaction from folks in the Sunshine State. For the first time in five years, the Miami Hurricanes and Florida Gators will face off — and no, the Seminole war canoe will not be making the trip to Gainesville (we'll get to that in a minute).

There's no downplaying this matchup, it's likely a massive statement in the positive direction for one program and much the opposite for the other. The head coaches, Mario Cristobal and Billy Napier, both need it badly.

In the end, though, Mullen went with Florida to pull the big home upset vs. a 'Canes team that loaded up this offseason.

Let's get to the fun lore: the Seminole war canoe. Many college football rivalries feature odd trophies, and Miami-Florida was at one time no exception. The schools would trade a wooden canoe back and forth each year depending on who won the annual matchup.

"An authentic Seminole war canoe, hand carved and painted by Seminole Indians from a 200-year-old Everglades cypress tree felled by lighting, was donated on behalf of the city of Hollywood in 1955 as a trophy for the annual football game between Miami and Florida," Miami's athletics webpage said of the trophy.

"The canoe symbolized the magnificent spirit and fighting determination traditional of the independent Florida Seminole tribe that was displayed annually between the Hurricanes and Gators" it added. "Today the canoe is on display in UM’s Sports Hall of Fame on campus."

Take a look at this sight from way back:

The drama: Miami has harbored the war canoe (illegally!?) since 1986. Though the rivalry stalled and thus the canoe collected dust, Florida and Miami met again in 2008 with the Gators beating the Hurricanes for the first time since '86.

With decades between 2008 and the most recent change of hands for the canoe, Miami didn't bother giving it back. As a result, in 2010, the Florida student senate approved a resolution that sought to get the trophy back on Gainesville soil, where it rightfully belonged after the '08 victory.

Alas, the canoe remains in Miami to this day, and there doesn't appear to be much momentum for it to make the trip north to become up for grabs again. It's a shame, because the canoe is one of college football's neatest rivalry trophy traditions.

Related: Greg McElroy Predicts Winner In Miami vs Florida Week 1 Matchup

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