We are still 32 weeks away from kickoff of the Florida Gators 2016 football season, but it’s never too early to think about the prospects of the Gators accomplishing another successful football season. Florida will be without a few key parts, but the schedule sets up nice for the Gators to make another run at the SEC East. This season will play out in what are true toss up games against Tennessee, LSU, Georgia, Arkansas and Florida State. Florida could win or lose any of those games. The quarterback position will be better than what we saw the last eight games of the year. The defense loses some key components but they return enough to field one of the top defenses in the country. The Gators will field a competitive team once again.

September 3rd – UMass Minutemen (2015 record: 3-9)

This is an important opening game for the Gators because they do not have the next game to make first game mistakes. Last year they had a great start against New Mexico State and got complacent against East Carolina. Gators will do the typical first game thing and win this one going away.

September 10th – Kentucky Wildcats (2015 record: 5-7)

Last year in Lexington the Wildcats had all the hope in the world to end the 29 game losing streak to the Gators. Mark Stoops may be on the firing line next year and needs this win to hush some of the doubters. Unfortunately this game is in Gainesville and I fully expect the streak to reach 30.

September 17th – North Texas Mean Green (2015 record: 1-11)

The Mean Green will be a good game to correct things following Kentucky and to continue to get better to prepare for their first road game against Tennessee. This will be another run away and the Gators will be setting for one of the biggest league games early in the season that will shape the race in the East for the remainder of the year.

September 24th – at Tennessee Volunteers (2015 record: 9-4)

On the last weekend in September the Gators travel to Knoxville for a stiff test against an experienced Tennessee roster. Joshua Dobbs returns along with running back Jalen Hurd. This is a big game for the SEC East title as Tennessee looks to end an 11 game losing streak to Florida. This game begins a brutal four game stretch for the Vols that has consecutive games against Florida, at Georgia, at Texas A&M and closing at home against Alabama. Right now I think this is the year Tennessee finally ends the streak, but we have seen more sure fire wins become losses for the Vols in the past.

October 1st – at Vanderbilt Commodores (2015 record: 4-8)

Vanderbilt almost pulled off the SEC shocker of the year last season losing to the Gators 9-7. Derek Mason did a good job improving the Commodores and making them more competitive. He will continue to do that behind junior running back Ralph Webb and a stingy defense. That still won’t be enough to beat the Gators though.

October 8th – LSU Tigers (2015 record: 9-3)

The Tigers will travel to Gainesville looking to extend their winning streak over the Gators to four. Last year in Baton Rouge Les Miles pulled off some more magic with a fake field goal to beat the Gators. This game will most likely once again come down to a play here or there. Leonard Fournette returns with a tough LSU offense looking to regain the national prominence from past years. This will be a hot seat year for Miles, but the Tigers will walk away with a win over the Gators in Gainesville.

October 15th – Missouri Tigers (2015 record: 5-7)

Towards the end of last year the Tigers were a complete train wreck. New coach Barry Odom has been chosen to follow up Missouri legendary coach Gary Pinkel, which will not be an easy task. The offense for Missouri was abysmal and if they want to not challenge for the bottom spot in the east they will need to show marked improvement. The last two years against the Gators have not been pretty for the Missouri offense and this game will not be any different. Gators get a solid win at home against the Tigers.

October 29th – vs Georgia Bulldogs (2015 record: 10-3)

Kirby Smart will be a new face on the Georgia sidelines in Jacksonville for the first time in 15 years. He will be looking to get the Bulldogs to the next level of winning championships. That will start by beating the rival Gators. The Bulldogs could be starting highly touted true freshman Jacob Eason but will have All-American running back Nick Chubb back in the fold. This game is absolutely a toss-up. I’ll give the Gators the benefit of the doubt here and look for them to make three in a row versus the Bulldogs.

November 5th – at Arkansas Razorbacks (2015 record: 8-5)

This will be an extremely tough game for the Gators going on the road to Fayetteville. Recently, plenty of teams have struggled to come away with a win. Brett Bielema is still trying to get Arkansas to that next tier in the SEC but he will be losing quarterback Brandon Allen to graduation and running back Alex Collins to early entry to the NFL. The Razorbacks will be a formidable test and the Gators will come away with a very close loss on the road. A loss here would not be surprising and depending on how the Gators are playing they are more than capable of winning this game.

November 12th – South Carolina Gamecocks (2015 record: 3-9)

Of all the home games on the schedule this will be the most interesting for the mere fact that we are one year removed from the Will Muschamp era at Florida and he is coming back to the Swamp. Unfortunately for Muschamp and the Gamecocks, the same issues he had at Florida offensively, will be the same issues at this time in South Carolina. Gators will roll in Muschamp first game as the opposing head coach in the Swamp.

November 19th – Presbyterian Blue Hose (2015 record: 2-9)

Presbyterian will roll in for Senior Day and roll out with a beat down. This will not be like the FAU game from last year. The Gators will bring more offense to the table and roll over the Blue Hose. If you are interested in what a Blue Hose is click here.

November 26th – at Florida State (2015 record: 10-3)

The Gators will travel up Tallahassee for the annual battle with the Noles in what should be a tough hard fought rivalry game. The Noles should have settled their potential QB situation by this time, but there team will be all about Dalvin Cook and their defense. The Noles could be in the playoff discussion and the Gators will hope to derail that. Florida State will be too good at home and will walk away with their third straight victory over the Gators.

2016 Record Prediction: 8-4

Best Case Scenario Prediction: 10-2

Worst Case Scenario Prediction: 7-5