Welcome to a humpday edition of Gators News! We have reached the midpoint of yet another week as we get closer to not only Southeastern Conference football action, but Big Ten as well.
The big news today is the Big Ten’s decision this morning to move forward with an eight-game football season beginning on the weekend of Oct. 24, reversing their August decision to postpone the fall schedule, ending weeks of drama that spread from campuses all the way to the White House.
Closer to home in the SEC, LSU coach Ed Orgeron reveals that most of his players already ‘have caught’ COVID-19. The football team had a covert COVID-19 outbreak over the summer.
Lastly, Navy football coach Ken Niumatalolo apologized for blaming the Pentagon for allowing Air Force to play for the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy this fall. Niumatalolo had argued that Navy (11 games) and Army (12 games) are playing full schedules, while Air Force is only playing two games because the Mountain West Conference suspended play until the spring due to coronavirus concerns.
Around the Swamp
- CBS Sports’ Week 2 power rankings has the Florida Gators at No. 7: The Florida Gators are ranked No. 7 according to these rankings, while in CBS Sports’ primary college football poll, UF sits in fifth place — which is a bit of an odd inconsistency.
- UF sees increase in COVID-19 cases, pauses lacrosse and baseball activities: In the last six days, the athletic department has seen 61 new cases from 337 new tests.
- Tim Brando updates his top 10 after college football’s Week 2: Florida moved up a spot to No. 6, trailing only No. 2 Alabama, No. 4 LSU and No. 5 Georgia among SEC teams.
- Gators stand pat in CBS Sports’ post-Week 2 rankings: Florida, who is still just under two weeks from its season opener at Ole Miss, remained ranked No. 5, the third-highest ranked program in the SEC behind No. 2 Alabama and No. 4 Georgia, neither of whom have played yet, either.
- ESPN SEC East preview: Can the Gators finally win the division under Mullen?: Dan Mullen has gone 21-5 in his first two seasons as the coach of the Gators, but there’s one hump Florida has yet to overcome during his tenure: winning the SEC East.
- CJ Henderson only rookie to make PFF’s Week 1 team of the week: PFF offered its assessment of the best players from the NFL’s opening games on Monday, with many familiar names mentioned.
- Former Florida Gators in the NFL 2020: Week 1: It took a pick-six and an otherwise fine performance by one former defensive back to head our Week 1 list of former Florida Gators stats and highlights.
It’s great to be a Florida Gator!
The rise continues! 🎓#GatorStandard 🐊 pic.twitter.com/6c68NHmXZH
— Gators Football (@GatorsFB) September 14, 2020
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