Florida football still has plenty to play for after entering its bye week at 5-2.
CBS Sports' Chip Patterson identified 10 games that could help determine the SEC Championship Game race and shape the conference's College Football Playoff picture over the second half of the season. Florida appears twice on that list.
The first is the Gators' Oct. 31 matchup with Georgia, which comes immediately after the bye. Florida appears again on the list for its Nov. 14 road game at Kentucky.
CBS Sports framed the SEC race as a crowded mess, with nine conference teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25 and an expectation that four or five could eventually reach the College Football Playoff. Patterson pointed to the league's numerous head-to-head contradictions
as the reason those remaining marquee matchups carry so much weight.
For Florida, the timing could not be more important.
The Gators revived their season with a 27-24 road win over Texas before the bye and now have a chance to make an even larger statement against Georgia. A win there would immediately strengthen Florida's place in the SEC race and national postseason discussion.
The Kentucky game looms two weeks later as another major opportunity. The Wildcats have emerged as one of the SEC's top teams after taking down Georgia last week, making Florida's trip to Lexington potentially significant for both teams' postseason positioning.
CBS Sports' 10 key SEC stretch-run games
- Georgia vs. Florida — Oct. 31
- Alabama at LSU — Nov. 7
- Georgia at Ole Miss — Nov. 7
- Kentucky at Tennessee — Nov. 7
- Texas vs. Missouri — Nov. 7
- Texas at LSU — Nov. 14
- Florida at Kentucky — Nov. 14
- Missouri at Georgia — Nov. 14
- LSU at Tennessee — Nov. 21
- Kentucky at Missouri — Nov. 21
Florida's remaining schedule gives it a chance to stay in that conversation. The Gators have already shown they can beat a ranked opponent on the road. Now they will have to do it again against some of the teams standing directly between them and a meaningful postseason run.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: CBS Sports circles 2 Florida games in SEC playoff race
