The college football playoffs have wrapped up another round and Florida fans watching over the past couple of days probably took note of the outcomes from around the country.
The following are three things we took note of watching the action this week.
The SEC is wide open in 2025
Bowl season and the playoffs have not been kind to the SEC. While Florida did win its bowl game over Tulane, the conference is now 1-4 against the Big Ten in bowl games and had two of the three entrants to the playoffs lose their first game.
Last week, we highlighted how Tennessee got exposed against Ohio State, and Georgia looked like the inferior team on the field against Notre Dame.
Keep in mind, had Florida beaten Tennessee and Georgia this year, and everything else stayed the same, the Gators would have been in the SEC title game.
Add it all together, and there is a feeling that Florida has a real pathway to Atlanta in 2025.
About that Texas loss…
One of the low points of the season was Florida’s loss to Texas. The Gators fell behind 42-0 in one of the most non-competitive losses Florida has had in recent history.
Florida had injuries going into that game, but after watching Arizona State take Texas to the wire, it’s fair to ask why the Gators were so non-competitive that day in Austin.
According to the 247 Talent Composite, Florida had the 12th best roster in the country in 2024 while Arizona State was ranked 30th. Florida had four former five-stars and 48 former four-stars on the squad this year while Arizona State had just 18 former four-stars and no five-stars.
And even after falling behind early and looking like they were going to get blown out, the Sun Devils were a fourth down stop away from playing the role of Cinderella.
If Arizona State can do it one year after going 3-9, what excuse do the Gators have?
Jeremiah Smith is good at football
We highlighted this yesterday on the site, but the one-time target, Jeremiah Smith, is as big a reason as any Ohio State now looks like the favorite to win it all this season.
Smith torched Oregon for seven catches for 187 yards and two touchdowns.
The recruitment process for Smith was long and winding, and while he was on campus in Gainesville a ton there never seemed to be real momentum to land him. However, DJ Lagway and Smith are friends, and Lagway gave Smith a shoutout on social media during the game.
#4 a bad dude😮💨
— LAG ✞ (@DerekLagway) January 1, 2025
If Smith ever gets tired of those Ohio winters, we have just the place for him to land in Gainesville.
