Athlon, to one’s surprise, is picking Florida to top Georgia and win the division. (“Picking between Florida and Georgia for the top spot in the East Division was the toughest prediction of the preseason for Athlon Sports.”)
So, it’s tough and here’s what sounds like the deciding edge:
The East is likely to come down to the annual showdown in Jacksonville, but Florida has an easier crossover (LSU) than Georgia, and road trips to Tennessee and Ole Miss are manageable.
Color me confused. If the Cocktail Party is make or break, then why do the other issues matter? I don’t get the easier crossover reference there — is that supposed to mean LSU at Gainesville is easier than Auburn at Athens? — but I’m not sure it matters. Look at it this way: if the Dawgs lose to Alabama while Florida holds serve against Ole Miss (that’s the easier crossover), and have no other conference losses on the slate come Jacksonville time, then a fourth win in a row against the Gators leaves Georgia in the divisional driver’s seat, just as it would if both somehow came in undefeated, or each with one loss.
If the annual showdown in Jacksonville is determinative, then the other games are just commentary. I suppose “likely” is a hedge, but if the folks at Athlon see the Dawgs losing two conference games besides Florida, they ought to come out and pick the winners.
Get The Picture 
Illogic of these prognostications aside, I’d much prefer the mounting rat poison for Gator players and pressure on the false bravado-selling HC over widespread plaudits for the Dawgs!
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Its going to be sweet win we get the 4th win in a row against these guys and everyone will be left wondering why FU was picked to win the division in the 1st place. The heat on Mullen will be intense.
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I’d imagine that if Kirby utilizes locker room materials, there is no short supply of it around this year. I have no doubt our guys are going to be fired up for this one, and don’t tell me that the returning defense isn’t scratching their head and literally wondering how folks would predict Florida to outscore Georgia…makes one wish that we hadn’t backed off late in the game and allowed those late scoring surges…this might be a moot point.
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I dont know much about the state of the Ole Miss squad, so, I’m asking; what are the odds that Kiffykins pulls off an upset of a ranked team? He isn’t the worst coach in the league.
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FTMF’s
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UF looses two SECE games, plus 1 more, book it.
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There’s a part of me that understands why the punditry has decided en masse, almost as if there’s a CFB version of Ezra Klein’s JournoList, that Florida and MuLLLen will finally beat Georgia this year. No one wants to keep picking chalk, unless that chalk is Alabama. It’s boring. It doesn’t sell magazines or get website views. And as I’ve said before, angry Dawgs are far more engaged on websites than happy Dawgs.
I just wish that when all these effing morons decided THIS was the year Floriduh and Sideshow Dan the Clown wins the East, that they would actually provide some concrete reasons why they were going to do so. So far, from CBS Sports to Athlon to Lindy’s to Saturday Down South and more, their reasoning basically boils down to “because.”
It’s because of that why I feel comfortable knowing that the Dawgs and Kirby will wipe the floor with the ‘turds and Cousin Eddie this season and win the division for the fourth year in a row, something only SOS has ever done, and possibly more.
The “I told you so’s” I will rain down on the heads of all these idiots will come with swiftness and fury. It will be amazing.
#FTMF
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I agree with you, Senator. It doesn’t add up. But I’m still happy they are picking the Gators. Sideshow Dan will be so tight in Jax that you could drive a knitting needle…well, you know.
You wanna talk conspiracy theories? How about Kirby paying all these writers to pick Florida? That’s one I could believe in. LOL!
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I will say this, while the majority of us are angry about this, I guarantee you that Kirby is happier than a pig in you know what.
He’s gonna use all this to his advantage. How often in CFB does the actual, fact-based better team get to be the hunter and not the hunted?
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I sure as hell hope no adult is legit “angry” over some preseason predictions.
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I’m your huckleberry. As I said, I wouldn’t be angry if they actually had logical, rational, reasonable reasons for picking the ‘turds over the Dawgs. They don’t. All their arguments boil down to a “because” reasoning. So yeah, that kind of bullshit makes me mad.
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Also, I’m not particularly proud of myself for that, but, your condescension notwithstanding, I am far from alone, and regardless of your comment I do believe you know that. I do pride myself on being not quite so profane or threaten-y as others, though. My reaction to the dumb pundits is generally to remind them of the actual facts at hand and then post my very most favorite gif of Kirby and Dan to remind them who owns whom.
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I don’t have a clue who this Gall guy is but he shouldn’t have quit after saying “Mullet has never won anything is ignorant”, because in a decade of being a HC he hasn’t. Please inform the ignorant of those titles. If you want to say you like his style. or think he is an up and comer who will get there, that is an opinion and everyone can believe as they wish. But fact is, he has never reached that level, so who is the ignorant one here?
I am glad to see FU rated highly, and picked to win over UGA; it can only help our guys stay focused. You always worry about them taking opponents lightly, give us an edge so we show up with bad intentions.
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https://images.app.goo.gl/62N8vG4xnApAEc1ZA
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Keep feedin’ those Gators the rat poison. Like some of the commenters above, I fully expect them to get bushwhacked by Mizzou, Ole Miss, and/or UT.
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Or Kentucky or Sakerlina.
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Thank you. These are the obvious teams to make book on to beat FU.
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Must just be real fun to pick Florida. Like it gives sports writers a euphoric adrenaline rush or something.
That’s the only explanation I can come up with.
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Keep that disrespect coming, Athlon. Plenty of space left on the bulletin board. The antidote to rat poison.
God I hope we have a season. I just out defense to have an opportunity to knock Trask’s dick in the dirt.
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Let’s try that again: “I want our defense to have the chance to knock Trask’s dick in the dirt.”
Hate when I mess up the money quote.
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Great! Now we can get odds that should make up for the stock losses this and other years.
I’m setting that Covid-19 money aside if it ever gets here and putting it all on the Dawgs. Some of you should consider the same.
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3rd and Grantham has never held Georgia to under 20, and MuLLLet hasn’t scored over 20 on Georgia during the time he’s been at Florida as a head coach.
It sounds to me like the Dawgs have the edge.
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MuLLLLLLLLLLLen has NEVER scored more than 20 on a Kirby Smart defense since he’s been a head coach. He’s scored 20 once.
The only time a Sideshow Dan the Clown offense scored more than 20 on a Kirby Smart defense, it was 2008 in the SEC Title Game and both were coordinators, Kirby in his very first year as a coordinator. Since then, Kirby learned what it takes to completely shut down that offensive “genius.”
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As I recall he couldn’t even stop Bobo in practice and Spring Game.
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17.
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The one implicit narrative in literally every UF 2020 prediction I’ve seen is that the only possible game they lose is in Jacksonville. I get that they have an easier than normal schedule, but why is there no one entertaining the chance that UF drops a game to Mizz, who has been a thorn in UF’s side since joining the SEC. Or a Kentucky, who has already beaten Mullen. I don’t think the LSU game is a tap in either.
It’s just incredible to me that UF has been given 11 wins unconditionally.
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That and the fact that until last year, Sideshow Dan the Clown had NEVER won 10 regular season games. Not once.
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The schedule IS the key IMHO. LSU is rebuilding and the game is in the Swamp. I think FU can, and likely will, get by LSU. I also think FU beats Ole Piss. Georgia is not favored to beat Bama in T-town. That’s a fact. So likely that is a conference loss for Georgia. Georgia is favored to beat FU and should be. But Georgia can beat FU and still lose the East if the Dawgs suffer a second conference loss. (Anybody remember South Carolina last season?) The most likely culprit is Auburn but it could be UT or UK or even a revamped Mizzou. The point is, because of a likely loss to Bama there is no wiggle room on the schedule and a second loss knocks UGA out of the SECCG and the playoff. FU can lose the WLOCP and still win the East. That’s what the pundits are banking on.
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You think it’s more likely UGA loses to UT, UK or UM than Florida loses to one of those three?
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No.I think the Dawgs have at least a 50/50 chance to beat Bama and will win all their other games. I’m just explaining the pundits’ thinking.
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Put another way…the Dawgs play as crossover games the #1 and 2 teams in the West (Bama and Auburn) whereas FU plays the #3 and 6 (LSU and Ole Miss). A definite advantage for FU.
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The idea that Auburn and not LSU is the “No. 2” team in the West this year is to me, frankly ridiculous.
LSU has more talent. Yes, they lose Burrow, but they still have players coming back that won three titles last season, including the best WR in football.
This idea that Bo Nix will, along with Trask, take some kind of leap this year is meaningless to me until I actually see it happen.
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Hey! I know it’s the Mayor and all that, but how about tossing a big bunch of juicy meat to the rest of us sometime! Sheesh! Easy-peasy.
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LOL.
FTMF.
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They have the Plumlee kid at QB so I’d give them a puncher’s chance at knocking off a ranked team like UF. I say that for two reasons.
First is because a dynamic dual threat QB can win just about any game in CFB on a given Saturday. Plumlee wasn’t a world beater last year but he did have good games and made a good number of big time plays.
The second reasoning is because of the type of team FU is currently. Overall a very solid team with good to great players at key positions and top 10 front-line talent. But they’re not very deep and will have games where they’ll be outmatched in the trenches (specifically vs the Dawgs and LSU). Even though their fans believe Trask is a Heisman level talent, the reality is that he isn’t a dynamic playmaker. Pair that with a thin OL that isn’t a consistent LOS winning unit when healthy, and there will be games when FU struggles to score a lot of points.
FU should have a very good defense again this year. But a dual threat QB can score in bunches against really good defenses. So I’d give Ole Miss around a 25-35% chance of beating FU.
Don’t get me wrong, I think FU has a really good team that will almost certainly win most of their games. Heck, they could win every game on their schedule. But there is a chance that an otherwise overmatched team, with a dynamic QB, can beat a top 10 but not complete team.
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You give them far too much credit while forgetting a bunch of facts.
Like about how many one score games they won the last two years. That doesn’t last, and they’re due to a regression to the mean.
They don’t have top-10 talent where it means the most: LOS and QB. Trask isn’t just not a dynamic playmaker, he’s a bad QB on throws 10 yards beyond the LOS. Their o-line is not good. They’re replacing almost as many catches as we did last year, and you remember how that worked for us, right? Also, MuLLLen won 10 regular season games for the very first time in his entire career last year, and he had to be extremely lucky to do so. If Franks doesn’t get hurt in that Kentucky game, they lose to Kentucky and probably Sakerlina, too, meaning they finish the year 8-4. Their defensive line may get a bunch of sacks because of scheme, but they won’t be able to hang with teams that can run, and even with us going to more of an up-tempo passing offense under Monken, we’re still going to run the ball. Kentucky and Tennessee definitely will, and you know Bobo will run the ball until the moment he doesn’t.
The ceiling for this Floriduh team is 9 wins in the regular season. They will lose to us. They will lose to LSU. And they will definitely lose one of the games they lost in 2018 and should’ve lost last year to the group of UK, UT, Sakerlina, and yeah, I’ll throw Ole Miss in there because of The Laner getting to have fun with Plumlee.
So that’s 9-3, guaranteed. That’s where Vegas has them. I even think there’s a good chance they finish 8-4, because they have 8-4 talent.
I said it before: Sideshow Dan the Clown isn’t their Mark Richt. He’s their Jim Donnan.
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Plumlee’s got a way to go as a passing threat. His passer rating last season was 108.43.
He was an ideal quarterback in RichRod’s offense last season. Let’s see how good the Laner and staff are with him now.
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