How daunting is the Florida football 2024 schedule?
The Florida Gators will face eight teams in the preseason US LBM coaches poll, beginning with its season opener on Aug. 31 at The Swamp against No. 19 Miami.
Other ranked opponents Florida will face from the poll, which was released on Monday, include No. 20 Texas A&M (Sept. 14), at No. 15 Tennessee (Oct. 12), No. 1 Georgia in Jacksonville (Nov. 2), at No. 4 Texas (Nov. 9), No. 12 LSU (Nov. 16), No. 6 Ole Miss (Nov. 23) and at No. 10 Florida State (Nov. 30).
Florida received 11 votes in the poll and will face another team receiving votes (Kentucky, 12 votes) on Oct. 19.
The Gators return 14 starters on offense and defense from a team that went 5-7 season under head coach Billy Napier, who is entering his third season.
Asked about the challenge of the schedule on Saturday, Napier said: “We’ve got an understanding on where the gap is at and what we need to do to make up that gap. Right now, we’re focused on Florida, and we got to controls what we can control, eliminate, minimize our error. It’s kind of like sharpening the axe to get ready to go chop down that tree. Sharpen that axe, which we can.”
Full US LBM preseason coaches poll Top 25 rankings
The US LBM preseason coaches poll Top 25 with team’s records from last season in parentheses, total points based on 25 for first place through one point for 25th, ranking in last year’s final poll and first-place votes received.
|
Rank |
School (record) |
Points |
Last season’s final rank |
First-place votes |
|
1 |
Georgia (13-1) |
1,364 |
3 |
46 |
|
2 |
Ohio State (11-2) |
1,302 |
10 |
7 |
|
3 |
Oregon (12-2) |
1,228 |
7 |
0 |
|
4 |
Texas (12-2) |
1,223 |
4 |
1 |
|
5 |
Alabama (12-2) |
1,077 |
5 |
0 |
|
6 |
Mississippi (11-2) |
1,019 |
9 |
0 |
|
7 |
Notre Dame (10-3) |
969 |
14 |
0 |
|
8 |
Michigan (15-0) |
944 |
1 |
1 |
|
9 |
Penn State (10-3) |
889 |
13 |
0 |
|
10 |
Florida State (13-1) |
867 |
6 |
0 |
|
11 |
Missouri (11-2) |
808 |
8 |
0 |
|
12 |
LSU (10-3) |
742 |
12 |
0 |
|
13 |
Utah (8-5) |
665 |
NR |
0 |
|
14 |
Clemson (9-4) |
657 |
20 |
0 |
|
15 |
Tennessee (9-4) |
621 |
17 |
0 |
|
16 |
Oklahoma (10-3) |
609 |
15 |
0 |
|
17 |
Kansas State (9-4) |
416 |
19 |
0 |
|
18 |
Oklahoma State (10-4) |
359 |
16 |
0 |
|
19 |
Miami (Fla.) (7-6) |
292 |
NR |
0 |
|
20 |
Texas A&M (7-6) |
273 |
NR |
0 |
|
21 |
Arizona (10-3) |
230 |
11 |
0 |
|
22 |
North Carolina State (9-4) |
216 |
21 |
0 |
|
23 |
Southern California (8-5) |
199 |
NR |
0 |
|
24 |
Kansas (9-4) |
186 |
23 |
0 |
|
25 |
Iowa (10-4) |
148 |
21 |
0 |
Dropped out: No. 2 Washington (14-1); No. 18 Louisville (10-4); No. 24 SMU (11-3); No. 25 West Virginia (9-4) Others receiving votes: Washington (14-1) 123; Louisville (10-4) 95; Virginia Tech (7-6) 64; SMU (11-3) 47; Memphis (10-3) 44; Boise State (8-6) 30; Auburn (6-7) 25; West Virginia (9-4) 22; Wisconsin (7-6) 17; Iowa State (7-6) 15; Liberty (13-1) 15; Kentucky (7-6) 12; Florida (5-7) 11; South Carolina (5-7) 10; North Carolina (8-5) 6; Maryland (8-5) 5; UNLV (9-5) 5; Central Florida (6-7) 4; Texas Tech (7-6) 4; Texas-San Antonio (9-4) 3; Appalachian State (9-5) 2; Colorado (4-8) 2; Nebraska (5-7) 2; Texas State (8-5) 2; Tulane (11-3) 2; Air Force (9-4) 1; James Madison (11-2) 1; Miami (Ohio) (11-3) 1; Syracuse (6-7) 1; Troy (11-3) 1
The US LBM Board of Coaches for the 2024 season: Tim Albin, Ohio; Major Applewhite, South Alabama; Tim Beck, Coastal Carolina; Mike Bloomgren, Rice; David Braun, Northwestern; Jeff Brohm, Louisville; Fran Brown, Syracuse; Neal Brown, West Virginia; Troy Calhoun, Air Force; Jamey Chadwell, Liberty; Bob Chesney, James Madison; Chris Creighton, Eastern Michigan; Sonny Cumbie, Louisiana Tech; Spencer Danielson, Boise State; Ryan Day, Ohio State; Kalen DeBoer, Alabama; Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State; Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri; Mike Elko, Texas A&M; Tony Elliott, Virginia; Jedd Fisch, Washington; James Franklin, Penn State; Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame; Willie Fritz, Houston; Alex Golesh, South Florida; Tyson Helton, Western Kentucky; Mike Houston, East Carolina; Butch Jones, Arkansas State; Brent Key, Georgia Tech; GJ Kinne, Texas State; Chris Klieman, Kansas State; Dan Lanning, Oregon; Rhett Lashlee, SMU; Clark Lea, Vanderbilt; Lance Leipold, Kansas; Pete Lembo, Buffalo; Sean Lewis, San Diego State; Mike Locksley, Maryland; Mike MacIntyre, Florida International; Gus Malzahn, Central Florida; Chuck Martin, Miami (Ohio); Derek Mason, Middle Tennessee; Joey McGuire, Texas Tech; Bronco Mendenhall, New Mexico; Jeff Monken, Army; Pat Narduzzi, Pittsburgh; Ken Niumatalolo, San Jose State; Barry Odom, UNLV; Gerad Parker, Troy; Brent Pry, Virginia Tech; Kirby Smart, Georgia; Mark Stoops, Kentucky; Jon Sumrall, Tulane; Lance Taylor, Western Michigan; Jeff Traylor, Texas-San Antonio.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida football facing eight ranked teams from preseason US LBM coaches poll
The Gainesville Sun
