With roughly two weeks until the season starts, college football win-loss predictions are beginning to pour in. 247Sports released predictions for the SEC teams’ upcoming season and they have Florida going 8-4 overall and 4-4 in conference play.
The projected losses for the Gators are to Alabama, Georgia, LSU and Missouri. The most shocking of the bunch is Missouri since they didn’t place in the Coaches Poll or AP Poll. Alabama and Georgia are in the top five of both polls to start the year, so Gators fans can at least understand the decision there.
The rationale behind the losses has little to do with Florida losing Kyle Trask, Kyle Pitts and Kadarius Toney to the NFL. Instead, it’s the concern that the defense isn’t up to par after a rough season in 2020. While Florida has done a ton to sure up the defense through transfers, major losses such as Jaydon Hill tearing his ACL will still hurt.
The Gators face Alabama in the third week of the season for a tough early test. If they are to lose that game, Florida should be able to recover over the three-game stretch of Tennessee, Kentucky and Vanderbilt.
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It’s the second half of October that will be the real make-or-break part of the schedule for Florida. The team travels to Baton Rouge for LSU on Oct. 16 and 247Sports has them losing with little to back it up. If the game goes in favor of the Gators, the momentum may be enough to beat Georgia on Oct. 30.
Of course, if none of that happens and the predictions are accurate, then Gators fans will have a big game to travel to on Nov. 20 against Missouri.
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