Each year, the team with the most wins across all sports receives a gold trophy styled after an Interstate 4 (I-4) road sign with the logos of each school.

The next game currently scheduled between the two schools in any NCAA-sanctioned sport is a 3-game Baseball series set to begin on February 28, 2025 with South Florida hosting.

[3][4] The name "War on I-4" had previously been used for an arena football rivalry between the Tampa Bay Storm and Orlando Predators from 1992 to 2016.

The first meeting between the then-Florida Technological University Knights of the Pegasus (UCF)[6] and the University of South Florida Golden Brahmans that both schools agree happened (South Florida claims the schools played two baseball games in 1971 that UCF doesn't recognize) was a 1972 men's basketball game in Tampa.

[7] Since that game, South Florida and UCF have begun series against each other in eight or nine other sports, depending on which schools' records are used.

[7] On September 21, 2016, the morning of the first meeting of the season between the Bulls and Knights with a volleyball game set to take place in Orlando that evening, both athletic departments announced the official recognition of the “War on I-4” rivalry series.

Including the base, the football trophy measures 4 feet 3 inches (1.30 m) tall and weighs 160 pounds (73 kg).

With UCF leaving the American Athletic Conference for the Big 12 Conference at the start of the 2023–24 school year, it is unclear whether the rivalry series will continue in the current format, especially considering the schools are guaranteed to no longer meet in golf, cross country, or track and field.

Since September 21, 2016, when the rivalry series was officially established, South Florida and UCF have scored their competitions in the 14 sports represented at both universities (South Florida is the only one of the two schools to sponsor men's cross country, women's sailing, and men's track & field while UCF is the only one of the two schools to sponsor women's rowing).

For example, South Florida and UCF only met once in women's basketball for the 2016–2017 season, so that game was worth all 6 points.

[19] The series concluded on May 12 with UCF placing higher than South Florida in the American Athletic Conference women's outdoor track and field competition, making the final score 70–14 in favor of the Knights, the largest margin of victory in the competition's history.

The point series ended on May 16 when UCF finished one place above South Florida in the women's outdoor track and field championship, making the total score 59.25–24.75, but the last meeting of the season between the two schools took place on May 30 when South Florida beat UCF in the 2021 American Athletic Conference baseball tournament championship game, though this did not add to South Florida's point total as it was a postseason meeting.

On April 16, 2022, UCF officially clinched the series for the 2021–22 season, securing the 43 points needed after defeating South Florida 4–0 in women's tennis.

During 2022–23, the final season with both teams in the American Athletic Conference, UCF started out with scoring 24 of the first 30 points (only losing the Men’s Soccer game) to take an early commanding 24–6 lead, but South Florida would rally to score 14 of the next 17 points (only being outranked in the Women’s AAC Indoor Track & Field Championship) to cut the UCF lead to a closer 27–20 before UCF scored 36 of the last 37 points (losing only one Men’s Baseball game) to win in a 63–21 blowout, officially clinching after finishing higher than South Florida in the AAC women's golf championship on April 19, 2023.

During 2024–25, the two schools only scheduled regular season games in five sports, resulting in 30 points up for grabs, with 16 needed to win.

Discussions about scheduling a game between the Knights and Bulls began shortly after South Florida fielded its first NCAA Division I-AA team in 1997.

The prospect became more serious when the Bulls entered Division I-A in 2001 and was very popular among fans, but as it would be a non-conference series, difficulties arose.

[26] Meanwhile, South Florida officials worried that their young program stood to take in less revenue from a home-and-away series against UCF than it would with an additional home game on the schedule.

The series was extended for 2007 and 2008 as part of an agreement with C-USA that the Bulls play a member of the conference annually for five years.

South Florida declined to schedule further games in the series, indicating it wished to pursue more competitive and high-profile opponents.

The two schools discussed scheduling more games over the next several years, including a failed proposal by South Florida to play at the Citrus Bowl in 2011.

Bowl and city officials decided against pitting the two nearby schools, as they preferred at least one distant team so that more out of town fans would book hotel rooms in the area.

UCF was admitted to join South Florida in the Big East Conference in 2011 and was set to begin playing there in the 2013–2014 school year.

[47] Bold dates indicate conference gamesItalic dates indicate games that count toward the trophy seriesA 2022 American Athletic Conference tournament – First roundB 2024 National Invitation Tournament – First round South Florida and UCF claim two different women's basketball records, due to when they declare the first meeting occurred.

According to South Florida, they lead the women's basketball series 32–17, with the first meeting occurring on January 20, 1973, with a 41–30 Bulls win in Tampa.

According to South Florida, they lead the baseball series 85–83, with the first meeting occurring on March 13, 1971, with the Bulls winning 5–1 in Tampa.

[55][56][57] However, according to UCF the first meeting was FTU's 6–3 victory over South Florida on April 12, 1973 in Orlando, making the series an 82–82 tie.

The schools have met in the American Athletic Conference tournament four times, with South Florida leading those matches 2–0–2.

UCF didn't win a game against South Florida until the ninth time the schools met.

South Florida holds the all-time lead 20–11, but UCF has won three of the four times the schools met in the American Athletic Conference Women's Tennis Tournament, including the 2019 championship game.