Gators Schedule Needs an Upgrade

How fun would it be to see the Southern California Trojans play at the swamp? How about the Gators playing in Austin against the Longhorns or at the horseshoe against Ohio State? The Florida Gators need to find a way to strengthen their out-of-conference schedule.  Last year, the Gators played one of the toughest schedules in the nation, including two respectable out-of-conference games – one against Hawaii (who made a BCS appearance) and traditional rival Miami and an SEC schedule packed with powerhouse teams which allowed the Gators to rebound after the home loss to the Ole Miss Rebels all the way to the BCS championship game.  This year the Gators play the Trojans, but not the USC Trojans, the Troy Trojans headline their second home game which follows a matchup against Charleston Southern University on September 5.  While the Gators have taken criticism over their schedule, people are catching on to one similar theme – UF will not play any respectable out-of-conference teams outside the state of Florida.  Why is this criticism legit?

Looking at the decade, Ohio State and Texas played a home-and-home series against each other. Oregon has played a series against Michigan, including a victory in the Big House with over 110,000 fans watching.  Southern California is finishing off their home-and-home this season with Ohio State, and has played games against Arkansas and Auburn on the road (in which they posted big wins).  Florida’s SEC-East divisional rival Georgia played at Arizona State in Tempe last year and this year they are battling Oklahoma State in Stillwater for their season opener.  Gator division foe Tennessee even flew out West to take on UCLA last season, and this season they will battle again in Knoxville.  Where are the Gators out-of-conference games outside of Florida? 

Out-of-conference games against respectable opponents give the fans a measure of how the talent stacks up against different conferences and different styles of play.  It also makes it more of an authentic road game when schools play teams outside their region as they do not have the accessibility of having all the local alumni show up and fans making the easy drive to see the team play.  The Gators do not have to face this challenge when they play out-of-conference road games in places like Tallahassee or Miami.

Florida coach Urban Meyer counters the critics riding on the toughness of the SEC schedule and the fact that they play the once big time heavyweight, the Florida State Seminoles, on an annual basis.  FSU is still a quality opponent to UF’s credit, however, they are not near the powerhouse they once were in the 1990’s and early 2000’s (Urban Meyer is 4-0 against Florida State, including 3 wins over 25 points each).  Florida also schedules a tune-up game the week before they play Florida State against an out-of-conference opponent.  Last year, Florida played The Citadel the week before they battled Florida State -- this year they play Florida International University.  Maybe this is where the change needs to take place.  Florida should schedule a respectable out-of-conference opponent the week before they play Florida State.  How about a cold weather road game in the Big Ten like Iowa or Northwestern? This would allow us to see Florida’s speed in a cold weather climate.  The Big Ten is a soft conference so this shouldn’t be too much to ask, right?  This would allow the Gators to showcase their talent across the nation rather than laying low in the state of Florida.

Another possibility would be scheduling a home-and-home series consistently with a mid-tier opponent for the second game of the season.  They could pick a mid-tier Pac-10, Big Ten, or Big 12 opponent.  This would make compromise for the critics who make the claim that UF’s out-of-conference schedule is soft but at the same time not underestimate the pressure of the SEC schedule.

To Florida’s credit, the Gators do have to play LSU, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida State every year, so adding a mid-tier team would satisfy many of the critics and yet not overwhelm the players with too many difficult opponents.  It’s also fair to remember that the SEC Championship Game is a heavyweight in itself – Florida is almost guaranteed to see a tough opponent.

Overall, Florida needs to revise its schedule recognizing that FSU is not the big powerhouse it once was and sign a couple home-and-home contracts with respectable out-of-conference schools.  Until then, don’t expect to see Florida playing at Texas, Southern California, or Ohio State anytime soon.