![Florida Gators quarterback DJ Lagway (2) celebrates at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium with teammates Florida Gators wide receiver Eugene Wilson III (3) and Florida Gators linebacker Derek Wingo (15) in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, November 23, 2024. The Gators defeated the Rebels 24-17 [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_7503,h_4220/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/213/01jffnb9j9dxshn1h6wx.jpg "Florida Gators quarterback DJ Lagway (2) celebrates at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium with teammates Florida Gators wide receiver Eugene Wilson III (3) and Florida Gators linebacker Derek Wingo (15) in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, November 23, 2024. The Gators defeated the Rebels 24-17 [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]")
As Florida Football prepares to take on Tulane in the Gasparilla Bowl, the common belief is winning the game would give the Gators momentum heading into the offseason. A win would give the Gators four straight wins to finish the season and, in theory, will set Florida up for some positive vibes that seemed distant back in September.
A win would be nice, and it would be a good chance to showcase DJ Lagway to the nation. It also won't create as much momentum as one may think heading into 2025.
Florida Football: Win because winning is fun
Not counting the national title game, there were 41 bowl games played last bowl season. Of the 41 bowl winners, those teams had won, on average, 7.9 games during the 2023 regular season. Those same 41 teams won, on average, 7.0 games in 2024.
Now, teams like Michigan and Washington tanked that average, but even the median total change for those 41 teams was zero in 2024.
26 of the 41 winners last year either had no change to their 2024 win total or saw their win total drop this season.
No team that won a bowl game last year increased their regular season win total in 2024 by more than two (Texas Tech, Duke, Minnesota, Clemson, Notre Dame, Tennessee, and Oregon).
More fun with numbers:
— Hail Florida Hail (@HailFloridaHail) December 18, 2024
On average, teams that won a bowl game in 2023 won fewer games in 2024.
Average change was -0.93, the median was 0, and the standard deviation deviation was 2.48 (AKA at best it is reasonable to see a two win bump from winning your bowl game) pic.twitter.com/4zdK7XbPSz
The point is that the idea of bowl momentum carrying into the offseason is mostly a feeling and not some magic potion that can be the sole factor a team can hang its hat on for 2025.
It would be the road less traveled, as seven of the 12 participants in the playoffs this year didn't win a bowl game last year, but Florida's hope is that if it wins the Gasparilla Bowl, it can follow the path of Clemson, Notre Dame, Tennessee, and Oregon into the playoffs next year.
Florida takes on Tulane in the Gasparilla Bowl on Friday at 3:30 in Tampa.