Just thinking about this today and I came to same conclusion- 8-4. We have 2 gimmes to open the season plus UK and Miss St. There's 4. Plus Fsu at home and :fingers crossed: a Miami team who has taken a step down. So 6. Tennessee at home seems possible... Then 1 more out of at LSU, at Ole Miss, at TAMU, home vs TX, and UGA. Will give us 8. The schedule was hard last year but actually is tougher this year. If we win 8 that would mean a much improved Gator team...
What sucks though is 8 is probably not going to be enough unless we absolutely loot the portal after next season. This is going to be our most talented and veteran team in a while and after this season we likely will need to rebuild the OL and find superstar DL in the portal. Also is we get 8 wins and then have to rebuild we're probably losing some of the offensive weapons.
It's our away games that worry me, though having Texas at UF wouldn't seem to help that much. We did beat LSU and Ole Miss at home, so maybe. Of our six away games, we cannot go 1-6, 2-6. That has to be much better. Even 3-6 means we have to win 4 of 5 at home. 7-5 regular season would be underwhelming, then needing to win a bowl to get 8. AI: Billy Napier's away record at the University of Florida is 2-7 in true road games and 2-10 away from The Swamp. He has struggled significantly on the road, with a poor overall record. Even though it seems like a hill for Napier to climb, I won't be shocked if we win 9 or 10.
I think the first 6 games will be the "tell" whether UF is in for a potential playoff run and great season. Emerge from that 5 - 1 and beating one of Texas or UGA may seem doable. Gotta keep DJ healthy and hope he fulfills the potential we all hope for.
I would be thrilled with 10! A playoff contender seems like a reach. With that said, I hope the Gators shock the football world. It's time for the Gators to hand Jo-ga a L, eh?
Hope the defense steps up - and they really did start to come together at the end of last season. O-line looks great, RBs look awesome, TEs are strong and WRs could be very good if everyone stays healthy. If Lagway is healthy for the whole season - I think this team is really good. Go Gators no matter what!
But DJ should have a chance of being the best Qb in the nation going in to 26. The portal will be expensive but the players will want to play with him. We better rob our piggy banks if we want to compete
Just win 10 of 12, that seems to be the formula for getting into the playoffs. Would be a lock with UFs schedule, maybe even 9 of 12.
It all comes down to Lagway. The season goes they way he goes and it could be quite successful if everything falls into place. The question now isn't that he is recovered, but did he grow in that extremely important off season between year 1 and 2 and can he stay healthy? If he gets hurt, the season is gone. His backup is not like Mertz, he has nowhere the experience Mertz had.
