Hail Florida Hail
Fansided

Florida football: Five possible bowl opponents for the Gators

By Sean Doty

COLUMBIA, MISSOURI - NOVEMBER 16: Wide receiver Josh Hammond #10 of the Florida Gators catches a touchdown pass against safety Joshuah Bledsoe #18 of the Missouri Tigers in the third quarter at Faurot Field/Memorial Stadium on November 16, 2019 in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, MISSOURI - NOVEMBER 16: Wide receiver Josh Hammond #10 of the Florida Gators catches a touchdown pass against safety Joshuah Bledsoe #18 of the Missouri Tigers in the third quarter at Faurot Field/Memorial Stadium on November 16, 2019 in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 5
Next
TAMPA, FLORIDA – NOVEMBER 23: Antonio Gibson #14 of the Memphis Tigers scores a touchdown during a game against the South Florida Bulls at Raymond James Stadium on November 23, 2019 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FLORIDA – NOVEMBER 23: Antonio Gibson #14 of the Memphis Tigers scores a touchdown during a game against the South Florida Bulls at Raymond James Stadium on November 23, 2019 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /

4. Memphis Tigers

Bowl: Cotton Bowl

Path to Matchup: Memphis wins AAC championship, LSU wins SEC championship, and Alabama moves ahead of Florida in the rankings.

Why Florida Fans Should Want This: Take away a two-point road loss to Temple and this Memphis Tigers team could have been this season what UCF was the previous two seasons.

The Tigers rank inside the top 10 nationally in both total offense and scoring offense in 2019. In 12 games played this season, the Tigers have scored 34 points or more in all but two games. The two games they did not reach the 34-point mark came in the 28-30 defeat to Temple and in week 1 in a 15-10 against Ole Miss.

Florida football has only played one team this season currently ranked inside the top 50 in total offense nationally, which resulted in a 42-28 defeat at the hands of LSU.

Both the Florida and Memphis football programs have played against each other only twice before. The previous time came in 1989, less than three months from when Steve Spurrier was announced as Florida’s new head coach. On that day, the Gators were victorious inside the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium 38-13.

Aside from the great chess match that would be present between Memphis head coach Mike Norvell and Florida football defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, this game could also serve as a potential scouting scrimmage for Dan Mullen.

According to ESPN, Norvell is the leading candidate to become the new head coach at Florida State. If Norvell does indeed become the next Seminoles head coach, there is the possibility that he may not coach the bowl game for Memphis. Regardless if he did coach the bowl game or not, the Gators would still get a glimpse into Norvell’s style of offense based on his four years of service at Memphis.

Probability: Doubtful. This again hems on the playoff committee overturning their decision to rank Alabama ahead of Florida. There is also the possibility that Oregon could jump ahead of Florida in the playoff rankings on Sunday following their PAC 12 championship victory. However, the Ducks would then be slated to play in the Rose Bowl and Utah would still need to be ranked ahead of Florida, which is not likely after the Utes embarrassed on a national, prime time stage.

Home/Florida Gators Football