Florida earned a chalky 35-14 win in its season opener over Florida Atlantic on Saturday night, but it wasn’t exactly a performance that inspired College Football Playoff predictions. The Gators clearly have a lot to work on, especially in the passing game, with the Alabama game just two weeks away.
After relatively strong performances from teams at the top of the conference, the Gators will need to improve if they want to extend coach Dan Mullen‘s streak of consecutive New Year’s Six Bowl appearances to four.
Right now, USA TODAY’s Erick Smith has the team on the outside looking in. In his post-Week 1 bowl projections, he predicts that Florida will head to Tampa for a matchup against Michigan and, potentially, coach Jim Harbaugh, though that would also be considered a disappointing finish for the Wolverines and their embattled head coach.
UF last played in the Outback Bowl after the 2016 season, when it defeated Iowa 30-3. The Gators last faced Michigan in 2018, when they earned a 41-15 victory in the Peach Bowl.
Here are the full bowl projections.
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