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Florida football: Bowl opponent coming into focus

By Nick Knudsen

MIAMI GARDENS, FL - DECEMBER 31: A general view of the Orange Bowl logo on the field before the Captial One Orange Bowl between the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Sun Life Stadium on December 31, 2014 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
MIAMI GARDENS, FL - DECEMBER 31: A general view of the Orange Bowl logo on the field before the Captial One Orange Bowl between the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Sun Life Stadium on December 31, 2014 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
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Florida football has a chance to go to the Sugar or Cotton Bowls, but it seems increasingly likely the Gators will end the year in Miami at the Orange Bowl.

The Cotton Bowl is a distant possibility after Florida football jumped Alabama in the latest College Football Playoff Rankings.

New Year’s in New Orleans sounds good on paper, but it would likely require a Georgia win in this weekend’s SEC Championship Game. It would be fun to see a matchup against projected Big XIII champ, Oklahoma, but is it worth the cost of Georgia making the playoffs? I vote no.

That turns our attention to Miami and the Orange Bowl.

Nearly every entity that makes bowl projections seems to agree that the Virginia Cavaliers will fill in the ACC slot in the Orange Bowl.

Head coach Bronco Mendenhall has quietly built the Cavs into a force in the ACC Coastal division in only his fourth season in Charlottesville.

Mendenhall’s teams missed a bowl in the first two seasons, going 2-10 and 6-7, before last year’s 8-5 season. A 28-0 Belk Bowl win over South Carolina sent Virginia into the offseason with an optimistic outlook on 2019.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – NOVEMBER 09: Head coach Bronco Mendenhall of the Virginia Cavaliers paces the sideline during a timeout in the second half during a game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Scott Stadium on November 9, 2019 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – NOVEMBER 09: Head coach Bronco Mendenhall of the Virginia Cavaliers paces the sideline during a timeout in the second half during a game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Scott Stadium on November 9, 2019 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images) /

UVA has lived up to its preseason expectations by making its first appearance in an ACC title game.

The Hoos have not won an outright ACC championship in football since 1989 and that is not expected to change this weekend against a Clemson team that is favored by nearly four touchdowns.

No matter the result, Mendenhall deserves to be commended for turning around a program that has had only two winning seasons since 2006.

The Cavs streaked out to a 4-0 start this season with wins over Pitt, William & Mary, Florida State, and Old Dominion.

A trip to South Bend saw a halftime lead turn into a 15-point loss and Virginia suffered back-to-back losses after the offense looked morbid on the road against an up-and-down Miami Hurricanes team the following Friday night.

UVA bounced back with a big 48-14 win against Duke the following week but dropped a head-scratcher by a touchdown to Louisville. However, the Cavs responding nicely by winning four-straight to end the season.

On top of clinching an ACC Coastal championship, last week’s 39-30 win at home against Virginia Tech was the program’s first win over the Hokies since 2003.

An Orange Bowl matchup between Florida football and Cavaliers would mark the second time in school history the schools have met on the gridiron.

Next. Here's what we want to happen this weekend. dark

Florida football beat Virginia 55-10 in the only meeting between the schools in 1959.

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