Jon Sumrall's success in the SEC's 'forgotten rivalry' could define Florida's season

There are quite a few roadblocks on the Florida Gators' 2027 schedule, but as On3's J.D. PicKell points out, it could be worse.

As kickoff times continue to be released, the real challenge of the Gators' slate has begun to take form. The conference schedule opens up with a night game at Auburn (more on that later) and the three-game stretch of Texas on the road, Georgia in Atlanta and Oklahoma in the Swamp is likely to be a big factor in what will determine if Jon Sumrall's first season is a success or not.

"Schedule wise, it is kind of like paying for movie theater snacks. It's not terrible, but it's also not easy," PicKell said. "You play Ole Miss early on, not ideal...but it's the SEC. I don't think Florida fans any year are ever expecting an easy schedule. But no LSU, no Alabama, no Texas A&M."

Florida's season could be defined by two-game stretch in September

We've talked plenty about the three-game stretch in the middle of the season where the Gators play two teams that made the College Football Playoff last season and one that probably could have (Texas) and will be looking for revenge against Florida after last year's 24-17 upset.

But how the SEC schedule opens is just as intriguing. The road game to Auburn is special for Gator fans. It's the first time Florida will be on the Plains since 2011 and the Gators haven't won in Auburn since 1999. Now that number is a little distorted because the Tigers have become a novelty opponent for Florida after a 58-year stretch (1945-2002) where the two teams played each other annually. The Auburn game is a big deal for the older part of the fanbase that considers the Tigers the second-biggest conference rival behind Georgia. It's pretty shocking that Florida hasn't been at Auburn in 15 years and the teams have only played six times in the 21st century.

There's also the storyline of two first-year coaches, Sumrall and Alex Golesh, going head-to-head in their first conference games. Both coaches have considerable upside and the winner of this game is going to make their fanbase believe that they got the right guy. Remember, Auburn had identified Sumrall as its top candidate to replace Hugh Freeze and Florida definitely did a lot of vetting of Golesh when it was looking for options to fill the void left by Billy Napier's dismissal. And these two guys aren't crazy about each other. They only met once in the American Conference, with Sumrall's Tulane squad getting the best of Golesh's South Florida team, 45-10, but then-Bulls starting quarterback Byrum Brown didn't play in that game due to injury. It's highly likely Brown will be on the field Sept. 19.

That game will be followed by Ole Miss, which could work out in Florida's favor. The Rebels are a stacked team coming off a deep playoff run, but they will play LSU the week before and that game is going to empty out their tank because of the emotions involved as a result of the Lane Kiffin fallout. Regardless of how Ole Miss does against LSU, the Rebels are looking at a serious let-down when they head to the Swamp the following week.

There's a good chance that Florida can survive September without a blemish, and if the Gators start 4-0, expect the momentum around Sumrall to be stronger than ever.

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