ESPN’s projected bowl destinations for Florida include an unfamiliar venue

Florida Gators football finished its 2020 regular season with a loss to Alabama but still has hopes of making a New Year’s Six bowl game.

The college football regular season, as well as the conference championship weekend, are now officially in the books and it is now time to look forward to the bowl games that will culminate this wild and tumultuous 2020 campaign.

The Florida Gators, who had College Football Playoff aspirations until its back-to-back losses to the LSU Tigers at home and a narrow defeat at the hands of the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game, are still eligible for a New Year’s Six bowl despite its three losses. USA TODAY Sports projects the Gators to face the Oklahoma Sooners in the Cotton Bowl, so where does ESPN think they will land?

Writers Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach both had differing opinions on which bowl will host Florida and its high-powered offense. Schlabach agrees with USA TODAY Sports, foreseeing the Gators making their first-ever appearance in Dallas’ most esteemed football venue against the Sooners. Bonagura, on the other hand, sees UF returning to the Orange Bowl for the second-straight year to face the North Carolina Tar Heels in Miami.

While the 2020 regular season ended on a couple of sour notes, overall it was an impressive run for a program that dealt with the coronavirus as well as the brutal gauntlet of the SEC-only schedule. Though Kyle Pitts — and possibly more players — is skipping the final game to prepare for the NFL draft, whether it is the sweetness of oranges or the fresh feel of cotton, the Gators earned a place in their third-straight New Year’s Six bowl.

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