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UCF beats UConn, leaves 'rivalry' trophy on the field

UCF beat UConn 24-16 in Storrs on Saturday. (Brad Horrigan/Hartford Courant/TNS via Getty Images)
UCF beat UConn 24-16 in Storrs on Saturday. (Brad Horrigan/Hartford Courant/TNS via Getty Images)

When Bob Diaco arrived as head coach at UConn back in 2014, he sought out a rival for the Huskies.

For some reason, he chose AAC foe UCF and the “rivalry” was dubbed “The Civil ConFLiCT” (FL for Florida, CT for Connecticut). It has a trophy and everything. The only problem for Diaco — and it’s a big one — is that UCF doesn’t really seem to care. Like, at all.

Diaco admitted last year that he didn’t even reach out to UCF to see if it would be receptive to the idea and then-UCF head coach George O’Leary said he “didn’t know about it” and “it’s hard to be a rival when you’re nine states away.”

Nonetheless, the rivalry (in Diaco’s mind, at least) marches on and the trophy was on display when the teams met Saturday in Storrs. After UConn won the past two seasons, UCF prevailed 24-16. Here’s how the Knights celebrated the big rivalry win:

The trophy wasn’t even brought to the podium for coach Scott Frost’s postgame press conference!

That’s what a rivalry is all about right there.

For more UCF news, visit UCFSports.com.

For more Connecticut news, visit UConnReport.com.

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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!