The Florida Gators will kick off the most anticipated season of the Billy Napier Era at 7:00 P.M. in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
The Gators, led by sophomore sensation quarterback DJ Lagway, are looking for their first College Football Playoff appearance in school history, which will likely take nine wins or more to accomplish.
And despite most agreeing that Florida's schedule is among the most difficult in the country, the Gators likely won't have their hands full when they welcome the Sharks of Long Island.
A bit... small
It's no secret that Florida has an advantage in the resource department over most of its opponents. The Gators, representing the state of Florida's flagship university, invest millions into their football program annually, and usually give the crowd of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, a venue that can seat over 90,000, quite a display of fireworks.
LIU, to a more extreme extent, are severely underfunded compared to any team the Gators will face. In fact, this photo perfectly sums up just how large that discrepancy actually is.
The Long Island U team photo ... Sharks are a little smaller in size and numbers than #Gators ... might be biggest mismatch for a UF opener in modern era ... pic.twitter.com/UjM8vLRhuh
— Scott Carter (@GatorsScott) August 25, 2025
For context, LIU's home stadium, Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium, is home to roughly 6,000 spectators. That's one-fifteenth of what the Swamp can hold.
The Sharks have only been playing division one football since 2019, and to be frank, haven't seen much success, if any at all. In their five seasons of play at the FCS level, the Sharks haven't won more than four games in a season, along with being the victim of multiple blowout losses. Their last game against a Power Five opponent came against TCU last season, where the Sharks fell 45-0.
Game may say more than you'd think
After being given some context of just how much the LIU program has struggled throughout the past several years, it's fair to say that anything but a resounding blowout win would be a major failure for the Gators.
No matter the circumstances, this game should not be close whatsoever. That includes both on the scoreboard and in the stat sheet. If the result is anything but that, Billy Napier may have a problem on his hands.
This game is unlikely to be highly-contested, but it actually might tell us more about the 2025 Florida Gators than we may think.