The start of the 2024 college football season is still several months away but that is not stopping The Athletic from casting its early predictions for the upcoming Southeastern Conference campaign. Now expanded to 16 teams with the additions of the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners, it truly does mean more in the SEC.
The outlook is not great for the Florida Gators in these prognostications as author Seth Emerson foresees a second-straight 5-7 season — and fourth-straight losing season — with a record of just 2-6 in conference play. Woof.
Emerson expects the Orange and Blue to prevail at home over the Miami Hurricanes, Samford Bulldogs, Texas A&M Aggies, Kentucky Wildcats and UCF Knights. However, he predicts them to fall on the road at the Mississippi State Bulldogs, Tennessee Volunteers, Florida State Seminoles and Texas; against the LSU Tigers and Ole Miss Rebels at home; against the Georgia Bulldogs on neutral ground in Jacksonville.
LSU is expected to headline the conference this coming fall with a perfect 12-0 record plus an 8-0 mark in conference play. The ‘Dawgs, ‘Horns and Missouri Tigers are all projected to finish with 11-1 overall marks — all of their losses coming in SEC play.
The South Carolina Gamecocks are also predicted to finish like the Gators at 5-7 with a 2-6 record against SEC competition.
The three schools with worse projections than Florida are the Arkansas Razorbacks (4-8, 1-7 SEC), Mississippi State Bulldogs (4-8, 1-7 SEC) and Vanderbilt Commodores (3-9, 0-8 SEC).
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