Florida football: The Gators have the 4th toughest remaining schedule

Florida football sits at 5-3 after a tough loss to the Georgia Bulldogs last night, but despite a poor showing in Jacksonville, it still has a lot to be happy about through eight games.

Not many people expected the Gators to be 5-3 after their matchup with the Dawgs, but here they are with a chance to tack on some more wins and make a respectable bowl game.

The only issue with that is the degree of difficulty that Florida’s final four games present.

All of the cupcakes are in the past. The Gators have one of the toughest remaining schedules in the country.

Florida football: No weeks off

PFF graded out the difficulty of each team’s schedule the rest of the way out, and Florida came in at fourth in the nation.

The only schools with a steeper climb than UF are Rutgers, USC, and Maryland.

Looking at the games that Florida has left, it’s hard to be very optimistic about them finishing any better than 2-2, with 1-3 being a little more likely.

The Gators start their stretch this weekend with the easiest game left as they host Arkansas. The Hogs have been bad all season at 2-6, and the Gators should be able to take care of business.

But then the Gators hit the road for two straight games against the Tigers. First, they travel to Death Valley to play Jayden Daniels and LSU, and then go up to face off against Brady Cook and Missouri.

The year ends with the Sunshine State Showdown at home when FSU comes to town.

The most winnable of those games are obviously the two at home, even though one of them will likely be against an 11-0 team.

If Florida goes through this stretch 2-2 to finish 7-5, that’s a win for Napier and the Gators. A lot of projections had them missing a bowl game in the preseason. Adding another big win against LSU, Mizzou, or FSU would be a big statement as well.

Florida has a chance to prove itself each week for the rest of the season.