Dan Mullen Says He'll Think About CFP After Florida Beats Alabama for SEC Title

Florida Gators head coach Dan Mullen is blocking out all of the College Football Playoff noise this week as his team prepares to face No. 1 Alabama in the SEC Championship game. That doesn't mean he isn't confident the No. 7 Gators won't have a strong postseason case come Sunday.

Asked about his team's chances of reaching the national semifinals, Mullen said he'll worry about that after defeating the Crimson Tide. 

"We'll think about that on Saturday night after we win," Mullen told reporters Thursday. 

At 8-2, and coming off a dramatic home loss to LSU, Florida's place in the CFP rankings had college fans questioning the committee's decision. 

The Gators only dropped one spot in the rankings after a home loss to the then 3-5 Tigers despite Cincinnati, Coastal Carolina and USC remaining undefeated.

Mullen isn't paying much attention to that debate now—especially since playing in the SEC has afforded him a strong schedule. 

"I think it showed respect for us and for this league, the quality of the opponents in this league, the grind and the demand of playing," Mullen said of dropping to No. 7. "This is our 11th SEC game in a season. I think that's certainly a challenge. Other conferences haven't been through that."

Texas A&M, who defeated Florida earlier in the year, moved up to No. 5 but the Aggies finished second in the SEC West behind Alabama and missed out on the conference championship game. That leaves Florida with an opportunity to knock off the top team in the country and kick off a fierce playoff debate. 

"A team that has played [six or seven games] is going to be fresher, healthier this late in the season and probably have more depth than a team that's on Game 11" Mullen said. "... I think everybody that knows the game of football understands that. People that really know the game of football understand that. That would be my guess. I don't know. That would be a question for the committee."