Florida

I'm not a believer yet. Urban Meyer preyed on a weak SEC East last year and still couldn't get to the SEC Championship. Now maybe "weak" is a bit strong. UGa was a great team. Outside of UGa, though, (and Kentucky), there was a lot more parity in the East. Vandy was surprising, as was USC, and Tennessee slipped. If there was a time for Florida to rise above it, last year was it. Instead, the offense sputtered around all year. Without a solid running back going into this season, I can't be a believer. Undoubtedly, though, Florida has the best chance of winning the East simply by virtue of a senior QB in Leak, immense talent everywhere, and a stout defense. Unfortunately, though, the Gators draw LSU, Auburn, and Bama from the West. Ouch. It's possible they could run the table in the East and still miss out on the big game. That certainly would be unfortunate. I consider these Gators an experiment. Meyer's offense will either do the SEC what Spurrier's offense did, or it'll die. It's that simple. Either it works or it doesn't. Here's year two. Let's see what you got.

Here's the schedule. The openers are against Southern Miss and UCF. These games are very dangerous. If Florida's offense sputters, either team has enough talent to give the Gators a scare. These are not MAC teams. They can play ball. I'll assume Florida can handle them, but there is little room for error in these two games. The third game of the year is against Tennessee, and there's just no way to tell at this point. Kentucky and Bama are next and I'm marking both of those as wins for the Gators. Kentucky sucks and everyone at Florida remembers last year's Bama game. UF won't stop until they hang 40 on Bama. I don't blame them. Now comes murderers row. LSU, Auburn, and UGa. Ouch, ouch, ouch. At this point, those games could go either way, but I'm tempted to say LSU and Auburn both win their respective clashes. Those two teams have all the right pieces. Either way, I'll certainly be glued to the TV for three straight weeks. Vandy, South Carolina, and Western Carolina are all relatively easy wins before heading into the finale with Florida State. Everyone seems to love FSU this year, but I don't understand how they are going to get miraculously better overnight. Last year just wasn't that good. Sorry. I didn't want to have to be the one to break that to you. But it's the truth. Florida will be better. I'd give the initial edge to Florida, but I won't call it yet. So Florida runs from 10-2 (damn impressive with this schedule) to 7-5 (honestly, not horrible with this schedule). I'd expect somewhere near the top end, but we'll know by the Tennessee game if Meyer's Gators have made the expected year-two jump.