Three ranked teams in coaches poll will dictate Florida Football's fortunes in 2024

The US LMB Today Coaches Poll came out, and to the surprise of nobody, Florida Football wasn't ranked. Likewise, to the surprise of nobody, there are a ton of teams on Florida's schedule who are ranked heading into the 2024 campaign, as eight teams total on the docket for the Gators have a number next to their name.

We have previously highlighted three games that were must-win games according to ESPN's FPI metric (Kentucky, Mississippi State, and UCF), but the Gators could still go 4-8 even if they win those three. The following are the three games that will ultimately dictate the narrative of whether Florida's 2024 season is a success or a failure.

Miami (19th)

The opener for the Gators has the feel of an old-school NWA loser leaves town match. We all know how hot the seat is for Billy Napier, but things aren't exactly any rosier for Mario Cristobal.

Cristobal is 12-13 during his two seasons in Coral Gables, and if you think the 25 players the Gators had transfer out after 2023 was a lot, you should take a peek at the 34 who left the Hurricanes.

Cam Ward and Tyler Baron headline the transfers Miami had come into the program, and Miami had a top five recruiting class in 2024, though that was fluffed up with a ton of three stars.

With the game in The Swamp, Miami will be as beatable as any of the ranked opponents on Florida's schedule, and if Florida fails, it will be a long season in Gainesville.

Texas A&M (20th)

Similar to Miami, it feels weird to have the Aggies ranked in the preseason. They are coming off a 7-6 campaign, fired their coach, have had their once-historic recruiting class fall apart, and had a ton of guys transfer out.

Unlike Miami, they have very few headliners who transferred in outside of

Nic Scourton and Dezz Ricks.

Their preseason ranking seems to be based on the idea that Mike Elko will turn things around in year one. This is also a good time to point out that Texas A&M is among the 11 wins Napier has on his resume at Florida, and this game is at home for the Gators.

Like Miami, there are not many opponents on Florida's schedule against whom Florida will have a better shot.

LSU (12th)

Tennessee is ranked lower than LSU at 15th, but this is a critique of which games will dictate the narrative of Florida's season. Last year, the Gators beat Tennessee, and the season was still a failure.

The reality for the Gators is even if they were to start the season 7-0, the season will be deemed a failure if they once again go 0-5 to finish the season.

As has been written about once or fifty times, Florida's last five opponents are Georgia (1st), Texas (4th), LSU (12th), Ole Miss (6th) and FSU (10th). For Florida to feel good about its 2024 season, it will need to beat one of these teams.

Obviously, beating Georgia or Texas would be a huge feather in the cap, and beating Ole Miss or FSU would be wins no one is going to complain about, but for the past decade, LSU has been the ultimate boogyman for the Gators.

Dan Mullen was sent packing in part because he couldn't beat LSU. Napier has been within striking distance these past two years but has come up short against Brian Kelly, the man LSU handpicked over Napier.

With Garrett Nussmeier slated to replace Jaydon Daniels as the starting QB, this will be as realistic of a chance as the Gators will have to beat someone in the back end of their schedule.