Less than 100 days remain before the opening kickoff of the 2023 college football season and despite having a full summer between now and the opening games the fanbase is frothing at the mouth for the return of the nation’s most popular sport.
As the media is wont to do, it has responded with a myriad of preseason predictions and outlooks for the top teams from coast to coast. Among them are ESPN, whose staff recently undertook the task of previewing the upcoming fall campaign focusing on the biggest games, players and storylines.
Included in the mix was the Florida Gators, whose Week 3 matchup with the Tennessee Volunteers to open up the Southeastern Conference schedule sits among the most intriguing. Here is what ESPN’s Chris Low had to offer on the topic.
Tennessee at Florida (Sept. 16, time and network TBD): Tennessee won for only the second time in the schools’ past 18 meetings a season ago, fueling the Vols to their first 11-win campaign since 2001. Josh Heupel was able to break through in only his second year as Tennessee’s coach. The venue shifts to the Swamp on Sept. 16. Billy Napier, entering his second year as Florida’s coach, gets a chance in front of the home folks to show he has the Gators heading in the right direction after their 6-7 finish in 2022. The obvious question: If Heupel could do it in two years (especially in the shadow of an NCAA investigation), why can’t Napier? Each team will have a new starting quarterback. And the Gators will be facing their second preseason top-15 team in the first three weeks of the season; they open at Utah on Aug. 31.
The Gators open up their 2023 schedule on the road against the Utah Utes on Aug. 31, with the start time still to be determined.
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