Will the Florida Gators play the UCF Knights at some point in the future?

Now that Gus Malzahn is in Orlando, the first-year UCF coach thinks the Gators might just do it partly because of his relationship with Dan Mullen. Malzahn also wants FSU and Miami on the schedule, too.

“I know we definitely want to play Florida in the future, and I expect [coach] Dan [Mullen] probably wants to play us, too,” Malzahn said, via ESPN’s Andrea Adelson. “[Florida State coach] Mike Norvell, we’re really close, we go way back. I know he’d probably want to play us, and we’ll try to play Miami, too. Before I leave out of here, I want to play them all.”

Does Florida really want to play UCF? What would the Gators have to gain? If Florida should beat UCF, it will have done what it’s supposed to do, but if the Gators were to lose to the Knights, it’s a big hit to the program.

Florida AD Scott Stricklin has said in the past that he’d be OK with scheduling UCF — in the right situation. Perhaps Malzahn’s tenure in Orlando could be a part of the right situation.

Historically, former UCF AD Danny White — now at Tennessee — wanted to schedule home-and-home series; however, Malzahn and new Knights AD Terry Mohajir are taking a different and more flexible approach to scheduling non-conference opponents, even willing to play a one-off in Gainesville, per ESPN’s report.

UCF, with Malzahn’s blessing, recently put a billboard up in Gainesville proclaiming, “The future of college football is in Orlando.”

With Malzahn being friends with Mullen and the Knights willing to play in Gainesville, will that be enough for Florida to agree to a game?