Ranking Florida's 2017 opponents from easiest to most difficult
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Over the past couple months, Inside the Gators has taken a close look at each team that Florida will face throughout the course of the 2017 season. Today, we rank all 12 opponents on the schedule from easiest to most difficult.
In the Alley, join our discussion and share how you'd rank all of the opponents on the Gators' 2017 schedule in terms of toughness.
(Linked with each ranking below are our in-depth reviews of each opponent on Florida's 2017 regular-season schedule).
12. Northern Colorado (Sept. 9; Gainesville, Florida): After a high-profile season-opener against Michigan, the Gators will play its home-opener against the Bears - a game that Florida should win by a hefty margin. (We italicize "should," considering the Gators haven't consistently blitzkreiged cupcake opponents like they should over the years). Northern Colorado, an FCS squad, went 6-5 last year but has since lost 22 seniors from last year's team, including a number of key contributors on both sides of the ball.
11. UAB (Nov. 18; Gainesville, Florida): After a two-year hiatus, the Blazers football program will finally return to FBS action in 2017. UAB does have some select talented players on each side of the ball, but there are still many holes at multiple positions that need to be addressed over time - which is natural considering the circumstances the team has had to go through starting from scratch. As a tune-up before FSU week, the Gators should win this one easily.
10. Missouri (Nov. 4, Columbia, Missouri): The Tigers are better and more experienced on each side of the ball as compared to a year ago, but Barry Odom's squad went just 4-8 and finished last in the SEC East in his first season as head coach in 2016. Mizzou returns quarterback Drew Lock and plenty of talented skill-position players, but the defense has a lot to replace. Ever since the infamous 2014 debacle, Florida has outscored Missouri in two contests 61-17. The Gators will likely be heavily favored in this one, if they can avoid the injury bug.
9. Vanderbilt (Sept. 30; Gainesville, Florida): Over the course of three seasons, the Commodores gradually improved under Derek Mason's watch. Last season, they were bowl eligible while defeating Georgia, Ole Miss and Tennessee along the way. The Gators get the 'Dores at home this time following last year's 13-6 result - and Florida has lost to Vandy just once since 1988. The Commodores could give the Gators a challenge once again, but Florida may be favored again entering this one to cap off a busy September.
8. Kentucky (Sept. 23; Lexington, Kentucky): Florida has owned this rivalry, winning the past 30 meetings against Kentucky. (That's the longest active winning streak one team has over another in the FBS.) The Gators won last year, 45-7, but the Wildcats are headed in the right direction under Mark Stoops after becoming bowl eligible last year. The offense has stacked up some talent, while the defense should be improved. Although UK's defensive line is a huge question mark, the linebackers and secondary are much better. This could be one of the best Kentucky teams that Florida has faced in the past decade - and the Gators will play this one on the road, too.
7. South Carolina (Nov. 11; Columbia, South Carolina): To cap off the SEC regular-season slate, Florida will have to play away from Gainesville for its third consecutive weekend when it travels to face South Carolina. The Gamecocks could use more talent along the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball moving forward, but under Will Muschamp, USC has found a promising young quarterback in Jake Bentley and some talented offensive weapons in Deebo Samuel, Bryan Edwards and Hayden Hurst. And despite overall talent and depth being a question mark still this year, a Will Muschamp-coached defense could present Florida problems, if the Gators happen to play undisciplined offensively. To avoid a road upset, Florida will have to avoid making too many costly mistakes.
6. Tennessee (Sept. 16; 3:30 p.m. ET, CBS; Gainesville, Florida): The Gators will surely have revenge on their minds, after the Vols snapped an 11-game losing streak last year in Knoxville. This season, the Gators could have a better shot at returning what has been a lopsided rivalry in recent years back in their favor. The Volunteers lose many key veterans on defense, as well as veteran quarterback Joshua Dobbs. Still, the Vols should be strong along the offensive line and at receiver, while returning a handful of talented contributors on the defensive side of the ball. This should be one of the most anticipated early match-ups of the 2017 season.
5. Texas A&M (Oct. 14; Gainesville, Florida): Right before their bye, the Gators will host the Aggies for their seventh consecutive weekend with a regular-season contest. The bumps, bruises and injuries could pile up by that point, as is natural, so the Gators will hope to be in good shape against a TAMU squad that lost some notable faces this offseason (Myles Garrett, Trevor Knight), but still returns plenty of young talent after recruiting well under Kevin Sumlin over the years.
4. Georgia (Oct. 28, 3:30 p.m. ET, CBS; Jacksonville, Florida): Florida has won the past three games against UGA, after losing three from 2011-13. (The Gators have gone 19-6 against the Bulldogs over the past 25 years.) Even after winning the East the past two years, Florida is still projected to finish behind Georgia in the division race this year. The Bulldogs field one of the division's best defenses and are strong at running back, but many questions at quarterback, receiver and offensive line remain.
3. LSU (Oct. 7; Gainesville, Florida): Florida's rivalry with LSU has reached a new level of nastiness last year, after all of the trash talk and everything else in between concerning the Hurricane Matthew postponement debacle. Well, the Gators get the Tigers in The Swamp this year, and there should be no shortage of motivation this go-around for both squads. LSU returns plenty of talent on both offense and defense but loses some key standouts (Leonard Fournette, Jamal Adams, Tre'Davious White, etc.).
2. Michigan (Sept. 2; 3:30 p.m. ET, CBS; Arlington, Texas): Michigan loses a number of starters on both offense and defense but should still field a strong squad after adding plenty of talent on the recruiting trail over the years. For many of the young faces on Florida's defense - and possibly a young quarterback, if Feleipe Franks ends up starting over Malik Zaire - the Michigan opener will be a huge test, as a number of those upperclassmen will be thrown into the fire right off the bat. It could be an overwhelming environment, playing in Jerry's World in front of 100,000 fans while getting acclimated to the 2017 season without an opening tune-up game.
1. Florida State (Nov. 25; Gainesville, Florida): After Florida won six straight against FSU from 2004-09, the Seminoles have won six of the past seven contests against the Gators. As far as recruiting and just overall talent on the roster, Florida is still considerably behind FSU and trying to even the gap. The 'Noles, led by promising signal-caller Deondre Francois, return a skilled group that has its eyes set on the College Football Playoff. It could take an excellent effort from the Gators to knock off FSU this season, especially considering how the last few years have gone in this rivalry.
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