college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
games played between the
Miami RedHawks
The Miami RedHawks are the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Miami is a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) East Divis ...
(formerly known as the Miami Redskins) of
Miami University
Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...
in
Oxford, Ohio
Oxford is a city in Butler County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,035 at the 2020 census. A college town, Oxford was founded as a home for Miami University and lies in the southwestern portion of the state approximately northwest ...
and the
Miami Hurricanes
The Miami Hurricanes (known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes) are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...
of the
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...
in
Coral Gables, Florida
Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248.
Coral Gables is known globally as home to the ...
. The schools, who have met four times, share the name "", leading the midwestern school to be referred to as "Miami of Ohio" and the Florida school to be regularly indicated in publications and polls as "Miami (FL)".
History
Both universities have prestigious histories in college football, with Miami of Ohio's Redskins/RedHawks having produced some of the most successful football coaches of all time, earning it the nickname of the
Cradle of Coaches
The Cradle of Coaches is a nickname given to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio for its history of producing successful sports coaches, especially in football. Bob Kurz, a former Miami sports communications worker, popularized the term in a 1983 bo ...
, and the
Hurricanes
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
of Miami, Florida having won five national championships.
Although the two institutions share names, they have different namesakes. Miami University derives its name from its location in the
Miami Valley
The Miami Valley is the land area surrounding the Great Miami River in southwest Ohio, USA, and includes the Little Miami, Mad, and Stillwater rivers as well. Geographically, it includes Dayton, Springfield, Middletown, Hamilton, and other c ...
area of Ohio, which was historically the homeland of the indigenous
Miami people
The Miami (Miami-Illinois: ''Myaamiaki'') are a Native American nation originally speaking one of the Algonquian languages. Among the peoples known as the Great Lakes tribes, they occupied territory that is now identified as North-central India ...
. The University of Miami gets its name from the city of
Miami, Florida
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
, which traces its own name back to
Mayaimi
The Mayaimi (also Maymi, Maimi) were Native Americans in the United States, Native American people who lived around Lake Mayaimi (now Lake Okeechobee) in the Belle Glade culture, Belle Glade area of Florida from the beginning of the Common Era ...
, the historic name of
Lake Okeechobee
Lake Okeechobee (), also known as Florida's Inland Sea, is the largest freshwater lake in the U.S. state of Florida. It is the tenth largest natural freshwater lake among the 50 states of the United States and the second-largest natural freshwat ...
and the indigenous people that settled around it. The two Native American tribes have no relation to one another, and the similarity between their names is coincidental.
Concerns over confusion between the two universities predates the football games and began with the founding of the Florida institution in the 1920s. Alfred H. Upham, president of Miami University from 1928 to 1945, published a protest in the Ohio university's bulletin in February 1927. Upham wrote:
Presumably names of collegiate institutions are not copyrighted and these good citizens of Florida have the legal right to adopt such a name as they choose. But they certainly have not much moral right to usurp the name of a university which has established itself by more than a century of sound scholarship and effective educational service. . . .
There are so many perfectly good names for a new and aspiring university. What justification or justice is there in appropriating one that has made its place in the academic world through more than a century of achievement?
The first football game between the schools was held in 1945 at Miami, Florida, and was dubbed the "Confusion Bowl" by ''
The Atlanta Journal
''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...
''. The name gained traction as other newspapers also began calling the game the "Confusion Bowl", including the ''Logan Daily News'' and the ''
The Dayton Daily News
The ''Dayton Daily News'' (''DDN'') is a daily newspaper published in Dayton, Ohio, United States. It is owned by Cox Enterprises, Inc., a privately held global conglomerate headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, with approximately ...
''. Miami (FL) won the 1945 game, 27–13, snapping Miami of Ohio's five-game winning streak.
When the Miami football teams played again in 1946, the name "Confusion Bowl" continued to be used, with the ''Daily News'' having a section of their newspaper titled "Miami, O., ‘Confusion Bowl’ Loser" after Miami of Ohio again lost to the Miami Hurricanes, 20–17, in Florida.
The programs met again in 1987, and the Confusion Bowl monicker stuck, with
Gannett
Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The
Hurricanes
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
won again, this time by a convincing 54–3 score, and went on to win the 1987 national championship.
The teams met again in the 2023 season opener. As a solution to the confusion, Miami of Ohio's veteran broadcaster Steve Baker said he would avoid references to "Miami" and instead refer to the RedHawks and Hurricanes.