Will the Florida Gators Post Double-Digit Wins Next Season?

Should the 2020 college football season go on at full-length, Vegas has Florida toeing the line of double-digit wins.

Vegas Insider has set Florida's over-under at 10 wins for the 2020 season, following Dan Mullen's first double-digit win regular season in 2019 - his second year as UF's head coach.

In the first year of Mullen's tenure, the team achieved ten victories after defeating Michigan in the 2018 Peach Bowl, and Florida finished its follow-up season with 11 wins with a 2019 Orange Bowl victory over Virginia.

It's hard to imagine what exactly the upcoming football season will look like given the coronavirus pandemic, but prior to the sports world shutting down, the Gators were already beginning to buy in on making the College Football Playoffs in 2020.

"I think we have a great shot because our guys know how the coaches operate," said quarterback Kyle Trask in March. "We know what the coaches want to see. Everyone really has that perfect bond right now. We’re working really hard and we’re excited to see where the season takes us."

Trask returns to Florida for his redshirt senior season, marking what should be his first game as a day-one starter since he was a freshman in high school, following a breakout campaign in 2019. He threw for 2941 yards, 25 touchdowns, and seven interceptions across 12 games, starting 10 following the previous starter Feleipe Franks suffering a dislocated ankle against Kentucky in week three.

Given Trask's performance, leading to Florida finishing with the nation's No. 16 passing offense, expectations should be lofty for Mullen's offense. Play-making tight end Kyle Pitts returns for a junior season with first-round NFL Draft raves, along with wide receivers Trevon Grimes and Jacob Copeland who both recorded at least 20 catches in 2019. Four end-of-season starting offensive linemen come back, and graduate transfer in Stewart Reese to offer an improvement on the right side.

The passing offense, which carried Florida to great highs last season, should continue to make strides going forward, and the Gators will expect improvement in the run game as well.

Defensively, defensive coordinator Todd Grantham will be tasked with replacing several key contributors, namely first-round cornerback C.J. Henderson, defensive ends Jonathan Greenard and Jabari Zuniga, and middle linebacker David Reese II. Several veterans remain including the likes of cornerback Marco WIlson and defensive end Zachary Carter, but the defense will get younger, which will provide a further look at Mullen and Co.'s ability to develop their own guys to their furthest potential.

We've seen flashes of it already. Rising sophomore cornerback Kaiir Elam started five games in 2019, recording three interceptions and four pass breakups. Elam's classmate, linebacker Mohamoud Diabate, exploded onto the scene late in the season as a freshman with three sacks against Vanderbilt. Several other freshmen made impact plays across their limited snaps as well.

Florida only has four true road games this year - the trap game perhaps being at Ole Miss -, and will face an LSU roster depleted of its national championship veterans after 13 players were selected in the NFL Draft. The toughest game on the schedule remains Georgia in Jacksonville.

As things stand, Florida is an easy bet for over ten wins. The experience the Gators return on offense could prove pivotal following an offseason shaken up by coronavirus, and the team's schedule is appealing.