Fifty miles of I-95 separate Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton from Florida International University in Miami. They are the only two public universities in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete for the same students, the same recruits, and the same South Florida identity. Since 2002, they have settled the football argument once a year with the Shula Bowl, named after the greatest coach in Miami Dolphins history.
Florida Atlantic leads the all-time series 17–5 through 23 games. FAU’s longest winning streak is 7 straight from 2017 to 2024. FIU ended it 38–28 on September 13, 2025 — the Panthers’ first Shula Bowl victory in nine years. The Don Shula Award trophy is back in Miami. The next game is September 19, 2026, in Boca Raton.
Why It’s Called the Shula Bowl
The connection to Don Shula is not ceremonial. It is direct, specific, and rooted in the coaches who built both programs.
Don Shula coached the Miami Dolphins from 1970 to 1995, compiled the only perfect season in NFL history (1972), won two Super Bowls, and is the winningest coach in NFL history. His legacy defines South Florida football at every level.
Howard Schnellenberger, FAU’s first head coach, was an offensive assistant under Shula with the Dolphins in the 1970s. Don Strock, FIU’s first head coach, was a quarterback under Shula for more than a decade. When these two coaches agreed to create a rivalry game in 2002, naming it for Shula was the only logical choice. The winner receives the Don Shula Award, a traveling trophy that moves between campuses each year.
FAU head coach Zach Kittley put it plainly before the 2025 game: “This rivalry goes a lot deeper than athletics. Our entire university battles them for admissions. We want to get a better chemistry student than FIU. We want to get a better trombonist in our marching band than FIU.”
The Series and Its Defining Moments
The first Shula Bowl was played November 23, 2002, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. FAU won 31–21. The game has alternated between both campuses since FAU opened its on-campus stadium in Boca Raton in 2012.
2005 — FIU’s Pick-Six Party: FIU won 52–6 at home, tying an NCAA record with four interception returns for touchdowns. It remains FIU’s largest margin of victory in series history.
2008 — The Overtime Thriller: The teams combined for 56 points in the fourth quarter alone. FAU quarterback Rusty Smith threw a Shula Bowl record five touchdowns. FAU won 57–50 in overtime — the highest-scoring game in series history.
2011–2012 — FIU’s Only Streak: FIU won back-to-back Shula Bowls, 41–7 at home then 34–24 in Boca Raton. The only consecutive FIU victories in series history.
2016 — FIU’s Last Win Before the Drought: FIU won 33–31 by two points — their final victory for nine years.
2017–2024 — FAU’s Seven-Year Run: FAU won seven consecutive Shula Bowls, every one by 18 or more points. The 2022 game was a 52–7 demolition at FIU Stadium — FAU’s largest series margin. Over the streak, FAU won by an average of 29 points per game.
2025 — FIU Breaks the Streak: After a two-hour lightning delay, FIU trailed 21–17 at halftime then outscored FAU 21–0 in the third quarter. Kejon Owens rushed for a career-high 173 yards and two touchdowns. FIU’s defense recorded three interceptions, the last sealing it with 2:39 remaining. FIU 38, FAU 28. FAU’s 11 penalties and three turnovers proved fatal.
Two Programs, Two Conferences, One Trophy
Since FAU joined the AAC in 2023, the two programs play only as a scheduled non-conference game. Both athletic departments committed to the rivalry regardless — signing a four-game continuation in September 2022 through 2027.
FIU competes in Conference USA, a 12-member league that includes Delaware, Jacksonville State, Liberty, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, and Western Kentucky among its current members. CUSA athletes benefit from the NCAA’s revenue-sharing model introduced by the House v. NCAA settlement, allowing schools to distribute up to $20.5 million annually to athletes — and in CUSA, where resources are more limited than in Power conferences, fan-driven NIL support carries proportionally greater impact.
Both programs operate under Florida’s NIL laws, which were among the first in the country — Florida passed its NIL legislation in 2020, a full year before the NCAA opened the door nationally. Both FIU and FAU athletes benefit from a framework that allows fair-market-value endorsements, social media partnerships, and appearance fees while prohibiting pay-for-play inducements.
FIU’s NIL ecosystem operates through the FIU Apex Collective, leveraging the Miami market in ways few programs at this level can match. A FIU linebacker promoting a local business in the 305 is the biggest college football name in that room — not competing with Alabama or Ohio State for sponsor attention but owning the local market outright. Miami’s global media hub, Latin American business networks, and dense local commercial ecosystem give Panthers athletes genuine NIL upside that programs in smaller markets cannot replicate.
FAU’s NIL deals tap into the Boca Raton and Palm Beach County market — a wealthy suburban corridor with strong alumni engagement and local business partnerships that have grown substantially since the House settlement. FAU’s AAC membership gives the Owls conference-level NIL infrastructure that most CUSA peers lack; the AAC was the first conference to establish league-wide NIL minimums and launched American RISE Ventures in 2025 as a dedicated commercial innovation division focused on brand partnerships and athlete revenue streams.
RallyFuel’s weekly college football predictions game lets fans earn points and direct them toward NIL support. The schools leaderboard tracks total fan-driven contributions — a live measure of which fanbase is more mobilized each September. The Trophy Case tracks award contenders throughout the season.
Why It Matters
Neither program has a recognized national championship, a Heisman Trophy winner, or a single week ranked in the AP Top 25. FAU has made 5 bowl games; FIU has made 6. By every conventional measure of college football prestige, both programs sit firmly in the sport’s lower tier.
That is the point. This is a rivalry about 50 miles of I-95, about which side of South Florida owns the region’s football identity, about bragging rights for the next year. It is contested between two schools that compete for the same students, the same local businesses, and the same claim to representing South Florida in college sports.
FAU leads 17–5. FIU has the trophy. They play again September 19, 2026, in Boca Raton.
