The 2021 season certainly poses some challenges for the Gators. The team opens SEC play with a home game against the defending national champion Alabama Crimson Tide and travels to Baton Rouge to try to avenge last season’s loss to LSU. Add in the annual Jacksonville game against a Georgia team that should be better than the one UF saw last year, and there are some hurdles for Florida to clear.
But taking a holistic look, the schedule isn’t too bad. The Gators should be favorites in all of their non-conference games against Florida Atlantic, South Florida, Samford and FSU, and conference road games against South Carolina, Missouri and Kentucky aren’t particularly intimidating.
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According to CBS Sports’ Barrett Sallee, UF’s strength of schedule ranks sixth in the SEC.
Florida is replacing star quarterback Kyle Trask, enough production at wide receiver to solve the nation’s labor shortage and draws Alabama out of the SEC West. The Gators also travel to LSU on the road and only have three SEC home games with the rivalry game vs. Georgia in Jacksonville serving as one of their “home” games this year. The intra-state rivalry with Florida State shouldn’t be considered a pushover in Year 2 of Mike Norvell’s tenure in Tallahassee. It’ll be very hard for coach Dan Mullen‘s Gators to repeat as division champs.
Sallee is definitely right that the path back to Atlanta will be treacherous. Florida will almost certainly be underdogs against ‘Bama, and it could be against the Tigers and Bulldogs, as well. A 9-3 finish likely wouldn’t be enough to win the SEC East again, so Mullen and Co. will certainly hope for a better finish than that.
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