Florida announced some surprising news on Tuesday, the Gators will be traveling south to play at USF in Tampa the near future.

The Gators are getting two home games out of the deal in order to make a single return trip to USF in 2023. USF plays in Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Florida will host USF in 2022 and 2025, the school announced on Tuesday.

Specific dates for the games have not been released at this time. These games against USF are the first non-conference games Florida has publicly released for the 2022, 2023, and 2025 seasons.

Florida AD Scott Stricklin issued the following comments on the series:

“This is a unique scheduling opportunity that allows us to get three games against a quality FBS opponent, with two at home and one in a great venue in Tampa. A lot of Gator fans will have the opportunity to attend that game and we are looking forward to being able to play a regular-season game in central Florida.”

Dan Mullen issued his own comments to the news:

“We are excited to have the opportunity to host South Florida twice in The Swamp and also play them in Raymond James Stadium. The Tampa/St. Petersburgh area is an important recruiting footprint for us and our players will love playing another game in an NFL stadium.”