Florida football faces one of its long-time Southeastern Conference rivals this Saturday in Neyland Stadium as [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag]’s squad treks up to Knoxville to face the Tennessee Volunteers. The Gators have owned this series since the mid-aughts having won 16 of the last 17 meetings between the two schools but the tables are ripe for turning this time around.
The Orange and Blue enter the game ranked No. 22 by the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll and No. 20 in the AP Top 25 after a narrow win over an inferior South Florida Bulls team at home. That and a loss to the visiting Kentucky Wildcats have undone much of the progress earned from the season-opening upset of the Utah Utes in the Swamp.
The Vols, on the other hand, have started off strong winning all three of their opening matchups, including a grueling overtime win against the Pitt Panthers on the road. For their efforts, the polls have them at Nos. 12 and 11, respectively heading into Week 4.
The Gators Wire roundtable convened to give its outlook for what looks to be Florida’s biggest challenge yet. See below what our five expert respondents had to say ahead of this weekend’s gridiron affair along with our composite prediction.