After falling in need of the six-win minimal to safe bowl eligibility in 2025, The Athletic initiatives a to return to y in Jon Sumrall's first 12 months.
Scott Dochterman took his shot at predicting each bowl matchup because the 2026 season will get underway, and he has Florida dealing with Duke within the Gasparilla Bowl on Dec. 18 in Tampa. Florida has performed within the Gasparilla Bowl twice over the previous 5 years, falling to UCF in 2021 and beating Sumrall's transfer-depleted Tulane squad in 2024.
Being in Florida, the Gasparilla Bowl would current a home-field benefit for the Gators. Dochterman additionally toyed with the thought of Steve Spurrier doing the coin flip between two of his former packages. Spurrier reached the highest of the mountain at Florida, however his first faculty head teaching job got here at Duke.
Regardless of Sumrall's public need to compete for an upper-tier bowl choice, or perhaps a Faculty Soccer Playoff look, merely reaching bowl eligibility can be an indication of enchancment for Florida in Yr 1. The Athletic's Seth Emerson not too long ago h for Florida however famous that eight to 10 wins isn't fully out of attain.
Dochterman projected 4 SEC groups to make the CFP: Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma and Texas. Three of these groups are on Florida's schedule this season, with Alabama being the exception. He additionally has Ole Miss touchdown within the Citrus Bowl, LSU going to the Las Vegas Bowl, Tennessee to the ReliaQuest Bowl and Auburn to the Music Metropolis Bowl.
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