College football returns this weekend with its Week 0 lineup, but the Gator Nation will have to wait until Week 1 before it gets its taste of the gridiron Gators.
Ahead of the start of a much-anticipated campaign, The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel cast his predictions for the SEC this fall, including Billy Napier’s team. In it, he has the Orange and Blue splitting its conference games evenly at 4-4 while projecting a 7-5 finish to the regular-season schedule.
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“Billy Napier earned a reprieve after November upsets of LSU and Ole Miss propelled the Gators to an 8-5 finish. Lagway is bursting with talent,” Mandel offers.
“But those now mentioning Florida as a CFP candidate may be overreacting. All of the Gators’ best performances were at home. This year they visit LSU, Miami, Texas A&M and Ole Miss.”
While his prediction would have Florida falling well short of a College Football Playoff berth, the fanbase could probably live with it after experiencing three straight losing seasons recently. Add another bowl victory to the pot and the Gators can finish on par with 2024 at 8-5 — not too shabby.
The Athletic’s 2025 preseason SEC football predictions
|
Team |
SEC |
Overall |
|---|---|---|
|
Texas |
7-1 |
11-1 |
|
Alabama |
7-1 |
11-1 |
|
LSU |
6-2 |
10-2 |
|
Texas A&M |
6-2 |
10-2 |
|
Georgia |
5-3 |
9-3 |
|
Missouri |
5-3 |
9-3 |
|
Oklahoma |
4-4 |
8-4 |
|
Auburn |
4-4 |
8-4 |
|
Ole Miss |
4-4 |
8-4 |
|
Florida |
4-4 |
7-5 |
|
Tennessee |
3-5 |
7-5 |
|
South Carolina |
3-5 |
6-6 |
|
Vanderbilt |
2-6 |
6-6 |
|
Arkansas |
2-6 |
4-8 |
|
Mississippi State |
1-7 |
4-8 |
|
Kentucky |
1-7 |
3-9 |
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Predicting Florida football’s overall, SEC outcomes per The Athletic
