Josh Pate Names Struggling Program With 'Outside Shot' to Win the SEC

The Florida Gators were once the class of the SEC. From 1991 to 2009, the Gators won double-digit games 12 times and won three national championships.

However, since 2009, the Gators have fallen on tough times. Their legendary head coach, Urban Meyer, stepped down following the 2010 season. He eventually took over the Ohio State Buckeyes, leading them to a national title in 2014.

Since Meyer left, the Gators have had just four double-digit win seasons, with the last one happening in 2019.

Florida Chasing a Return to Excellence

Florida also hasn't won the SEC or made a College Football Playoff despite its expansion to 12 teams before the 2024 season. But that is what the new head coach, Jon Sumrall, is in Gainesville to change. Sumrall replaces Billy Napier after going 20-8 in two seasons at Tulane, leading it to its first College Football Playoff appearance in 2025.

Florida Gators running back Jadan Baugh (13) scores a touchdown during the fourth quarter. | Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images

Sumrall Brings New Hope to Gainesville

The move to Sumrall has brought quite a bit of excitement to Florida. So much so that Josh Pate reacted to a bold prediction on his show, "Josh Pate's College Football Show," involving the Gators. That prediction stated that Florida and Alabama would face off in the SEC Championship Game.

Pate brought up that Florida has the ninth -best odds to win the SEC. But he feels there is still an outside chance of it happening, due to the team's talent.

"There is an outside shot in the SEC, because of Florida's talented roster that if everything came together right for them, it wouldn't just knock me on the floor if you showed me a vision of December and Florida somehow made it to Atlanta," Pate said.

Pate is right that a team like Florida can absolutely make a run in the SEC. This also shows how deep the conference is. Because Pate mentioned how the team in the Big Ten with the ninth-best odds doesn't have a chance, like they would in the SEC.

This is due to the Big Ten being top-heavy and people thinking it's the best conference because of those teams at the top.

Talent Isn't Florida's Problem

However, the reality is that from top to bottom, there isn't a conference better than the SEC. That's what makes the conference so special and hard to navigate.

Florida is considered one of the programs struggling the most, yet talent-wise, they can compete with anyone. Just last season, Florida had a top 12 roster in college football, according to 247Sports.

So, while it's unlikely Florida represents the SEC in the conference title game, it isn't as crazy as some might think.

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