Florida Football: Gators can’t fret SEC Media preseason poll

It wasn’t surprising that Florida football was pegged 5th in the SEC East in the Preseason Football Media Poll released today. The Gators are coming off back-to-back 6-7 seasons and have seen the rest of the SEC East catch up to them and pass them.

But rather than get flustered that no one believes in the Gators, Billy Napier and crew have to keep grinding if they want to flip the narrative.

Florida Football: Just win baby

The Gators were picked ahead of only Vanderbilt and Missouri. Kentucky and South Carolina were super close to each other, with Tennessee as the consensus runner-up to Georgia.

It is a sign of how far the program has dropped that Kentucky and South Carolina are getting picked ahead of Florida, but it is also hard with confidence to say that the Gators deserved a better fate.

In reality, the game against Kentucky and South Carolina, along with Arkansas, will drive the narrative of this season. If one presumes that the Gators will beat McNeese State, Charlotte, Vanderbilt, and Missouri, the next tier of winnable games starts with South Carolina.

If Florida football beats all three of Kentucky, South Carolina, and Arkansas, it could finish 7-5, with all five losses coming to teams that will probably be ranked in the top 15.

If Florida is indeed below South Carolina and Kentucky, the possibility of a 4-8 season isn’t hyperbole.

So when Jason Marshall says they are ready to “Shock the world,” it is because inside the Florida locker room, there isn’t the same gloom and doom prognosis everyone else seems to have.

And it is the only mindset they can have, because rather than sit around and mope about their position, the Gators just need to win.

Plain and simple, win.

And until that happens, predictions like this will continue to get published.