![Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier looks on during spring football practice at Heavener Football Complex at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL on Thursday, March 6, 2025. [Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_5195,h_2922/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/213/01jy97p6eph3q5m5qrqp.jpg "Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier looks on during spring football practice at Heavener Football Complex at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL on Thursday, March 6, 2025. [Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun]")
One of the very real struggles for the Florida Gators heading into the 2025 campaign will be their schedule. The Gators could potentially be a top 15 squad but also have up to seven other top 15 squads on the schedule this season.
What's done is done, and there is no changing the schedule. There is also the reality that others around the country could sleepwalk their way to 10+ wins, given their own schedule.
Florida Gators have the 2nd hardest schedule in the country
We've been highlighting the Kelley Ford Ratings and the somewhat bleak picture it paints for the Gators in 2025. A lot of that picture has to do with Florida's schedule.
According to KFord, the 12th-best team in the country would, on average, only win 6.6 games with Florida's schedule. Only Arkansas has a harder schedule, according to KFord.
But if we flipped the script, the team with the easiest schedule in the country is Liberty. Based on the KFord rating, the 12th-best team in the country would be almost guaranteed an undefeated season with the schedule the Flames have put together:
- Maine
- Jacksonville State
- Bowling Green
- James Madison
- Old Dominion
- UTEP
- New Mexico State
- Deleware
- Missouri State
- FIU
- Louisiana Tech
- Kennesaw State
Now, if you don't want to pick on a group of five teams (even if Liberty deserves to be picked on because they are notorious for having a soft schedule every year), a team like the Gators would be almost guaranteed 10 wins if it played some other Power Four schedules.
KFord claims that the 12th-best team would win at least nine games if it had the same schedule as:
- Washington
- Oregon
- Baylor
- Indiana
- Nebraska
- Oklahoma State
- Notre Dame
- Illinois
This list continues until you get to the Power Four school with the softest schedule, which is Virginia. The 12th-best team would be virtually guaranteed 20 wins if it had Virginia's schedule.
None of this changes the expectations for the Gators heading into 2025, but it is a reminder that not all wins are created equal.