College football season is still many months ahead, but with spring practices already underway and annual spring games ahead in the near future, it certainly is not too early to start looking toward next fall. Recently, 247Sports took it just a bit further and published their projections for next season’s bowl games in a way-too-early peek at what postseason play could look like.
For Florida football, the program is recovering from a disastrous 2021 campaign that produced the worst record in SEC play since 1986 and resulted in a purge of the coaching staff all the way up to head coach [autotag]Dan Mullen[/autotag]. The Gators brought in Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns’ head coach [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] to repair the damage and restore glory to the Orange and Blue, and he has gotten off to a good start in the eyes of many.
While things appear to have turned around for Gainesville’s gridiron gang, it is a long and difficult road back to the top, and as the adage goes, “Rome was not built in a day.” There are some growing pains ahead and instant gratification will be tough to attain in the dawning days of the new staff.
With that in mind, 247Sports’ prediction for Florida next December is for a meeting with the Kansas State Wildcats in the Liberty Bowl, held annually in Memphis, Tennessee. Here is what author Brad Crawford had to offer on the matchup.
Here’s another difficult-to-project SEC team with a better situation at quarterback when compared to Auburn. However, Florida’s bowl hopes could be determined by how the Gators fare in September since Billy Napier’s squad will play Utah, Kentucky and Tennessee during the opening month. That’s potentially three nationally-ranked opponents and two come at home. Getting through the first half of the season without taking on water is the goal for Napier’s crew.
It is not the most glorious of bowl destinations but it is certainly a step up from the Gasparilla Bowl appearance they made in 2021. Keep in mind that it will take a season or two for Napier’s new plan to sink in and take root so it is not unexpected that Florida is expected to miss out on a New Year’s Six appearances. But in the years that follow, the Gator Nation can begin to expect much more from its beloved football team.
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