Florida football: Don’t fear, there’s a path to Atlanta

I know some of you are thinking Florida football should just get ready for the Who Give a Care.com Bowl after Saturday’s loss at LSU. But, hold on a minute.

It was a tough loss for Florida football.

We all thought the smack talk from Tigerland would bite them in the you-know-where, but it didn’t.

Joe Burrow‘s smug, I-hate-Florida mentality didn’t end with him eating handfuls of grass at Tiger Stadium.

And, quite frankly, that is upsetting and forcing several in Gator Nation to think planning a trip to Atlanta in December is not even worth logging in to find out prices.

But, hang on just one second.

We Florida football faithful have been handed a gift, of sorts.

Thanks to the Feathered Cocks, we still have a way to get there.

Since South Carolina beat then-No. 3 Georgia 20-17 in double overtime — between the hedges, no less — what happened in Death Valley only stings because of Burrow.

Did I mention I really don’t like that guy and his smugness?

But, I digress.

Because of that, Florida football still has a path to Atlanta to face either Alabama or LSU (again).

That path is going through three cities — Columbia, South Carolina, Jacksonville, Florida and Columbia, Missouri.

As things stand now, Missouri has the lead in the SEC East, as they are 2-0 in the conference and 5-1 overall (hey, thanks for dropping the L on them Wyoming).

Florida and Georgia are tied for second with one loss each followed by South Carolina and Tennessee with two losses and Kentucky and Vanderbilt rounding out the division.

So, here’s the clearest (but, not really) ways for Florida to reach Atlanta on Dec. 7:

Win out: If the Gators beat both Georgia and Missouri and don’t stumble against Vanderbilt or South Carolina, they will win the East. That’s pretty simple, right?

Well, on paper yes. However, it’s a tough ask considering Missouri and South Carolina are on the road while Georgia is in Jacksonville. Only Vanderbilt will be at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium — the one game where it wouldn’t be bad to be on the road so we could get the Tigers or Gamecocks at home.

Of course, the Georgia game is certainly not a gimmie. Granted we probably saw the worst game Bulldogs’ quarterback Jake Fromm has ever played … ever … against South Carolina’s defense.

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Lose one: This is where the math gets tricky and Florida football would need some help. If they beat Missouri and Georgia but, say, lose to South Carolina, they would need Georgia to beat Missouri.

If that happens, Florida would have the tie-breaker with both Missouri and Georgia.

But, you would have a new wrinkle: The Gamecocks.

Setting all four teams with two losses, which is plausible considering South Carolina has Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Texas A&M left on the SEC slate after Florida.

I would think Jimbo Fisher and the Aggies would beat South Carolina at home, but you never know.

If it happens that Florida beats Missouri and Georgia, Georgia beats Missouri and South Carolina wins out, you have four teams with two losses … let the fun begin.

Lose two: It becomes virtually impossible to consider the Gators for Atlanta if they lose two of their remaining SEC games.

Georgia and Missouri will hang a loss on one of them — best-case scenario for Florida is Georgia wins, handing Missouri a loss.

But, if Florida drops any of the remaining two games, their path to Atlanta is likely closed for another season.

Keep in mind, this is all conjecture and anything is possible. The point is that the season is, by no means over and Florida has plenty to play for.

South Carolina will host No. 9 Florida at 12 p.m. Saturday in Columbia, South Carolina.