The College Football Playoff is an exclusive club. Only 11 programs have ever appeared in it.
For a program on the outside, that could lead to a depressing outlook, but there’s still reason for hope. The first six years of the playoff, at least one new team appeared in the final four.
That streak came to an end in 2020, as Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame an Ohio State had all appeared in the playoff before. Still, for a program like Florida, which has seen three straight top-15 finishes and ended in the top 10 two of the last three years, there’s reason to believe a first playoff appearance could be on the horizon.
CBS Sports thinks so too. In their list of the eight teams most likely to be the next newcomer, the Gators make an appearance. The other teams selected in the draft-style rankings were USC, Texas, Texas A&M, North Carolina, Iowa State, Penn State and Wisconsin.
Here’s the rundown on Florida.
Round 1, Pick 4: Florida (Chip)
The Gators lost to Texas A&M by three, lost to LSU by a shoe and pushed Alabama until the very end in a six-point defeat in the SEC Championship Game. There is a mass exodus of playmakers in Gainesville, but Dan Mullen has already delivered on the promise of bringing Florida back into SEC championship contention. Like Texas A&M, you’re not hanging your hat on the prospects of only winning the SEC crown to make the playoff, as even Notre Dame showed us this year you can lose on conference championship weekend and still hold on to a top-four spot in the rankings. After three New Years Six appearances in three years, the Gators are knocking on the door and close to a breakthrough with their first playoff appearance in program history.
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