Florida Gators Debut at No. 8 in Preseason Coaches Poll
The Preseason Amway Coaches Poll of the 2020 college football season has been released, with the Florida Gators claiming the No. 8 spot for the second year in a row.
The upcoming college season will be far from traditional, as conferences are adapting to unique schedules across the map amidst the coronavirus pandemic. It will be interesting to see how much the Associated Press and Coaches Polls, as well as the College Football Playoff, are influenced by these schedule changes, but based off of last year's play and returning talent, the Gators once again find themselves in the top 10 prior to week one.
Entering year three of the Dan Mullen era, the Gators are expected to contend for the SEC crown with hopes of unseating Georgia as the No. 1 team in the SEC East. Starting quarterback Kyle Trask and an ample amount of veterans, both offensively and defensively, return to pair with intriguing young talent, recruited by Mullen and his staff, that are ready to take on full-time roles.
Six SEC teams can be found across the first Top 25 of the 2020 season, with Florida being the fourth-highest rated of the group: Alabama checks in at No. 3, Georgia at No. 4, LSU at No. 5, Auburn at No. 11, and Texas A&M at No. 13.
Florida is currently set to face LSU on October 10th in Gainesville, Fla., and Georgia on October 31st in Jacksonville, Fla.
The SEC is expected to announce the two additional cross-conference teams each program will face, replacing non-conference opponents in a shortened 2020 season, sometime this week, as reported by Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellenger.
