The Florida Gators will face one of the toughest schedules in the country during the 2023 college football season, according to sportswriter Phil Steele.
He has UF tied with Houston for the sixth-toughest schedule in the country based on the opponent’s win percentage, which sits at 61.5%. Florida also has six teams on its schedule that finished the 2022 season ranked and eight that finished with a winning record. Incredibly, the Gators only rank fourth among SEC teams on this list, which goes to show just how tough it is to win in the conference.
Florida starts the season off with a tough road game against Utah. The Utes lost in Gainesville last year and aren’t likely to forget it coming into what should be labeled as a revenge game for them. After that, the Gators enjoy a nice three-game home stretch against McNeese State, Tennessee and Charlotte.
A road game at Kentucky starts what could be a very tough stretch for Florida in Week 5. A home game against Vanderbilt serves as a calm before the storm, and then it’s at South Carolina, Georgia, Arkansas, at LSU, at Missouri and, of course, the Florida State game to end the regular season.
The Kentuck and South Carolina games feel like Florida’s most important after an early glance. Winning both games would mean Florida could go 0-4 against Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee and LSU and still make a bowl game. Florida should compete in all but the Georgia game, but sometimes you have to plan for the worst-case scenario when the team has one of the top 6 toughest schedules in the game.
It won’t be easy for Billy Napier’s crew in 2023, but a successful season isn’t out of reach.
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