Florida football's 4-0 start has the national sports media buzzing, particularly after Jon Sumrall's team dismantled a top-five-ranked Ole Miss Rebels squad, 52-28, last Saturday in the Swamp.
It has been a long while since the Gators made serious waves on the collegiate gridiron, and their recent success has catapulted them into the College Football Playoff discussion for the first time since the field expanded to 12 teams. Among those considering them as a playoff contender is CBS Sports writer Brad Crawford, who has the Orange and Blue seeded seventh after four games, facing the 10th-seeded Oregon Ducks in the first round.
"How about those Gators? Perhaps the SEC's most surprising unbeaten after Week 4, Jon Sumrall is ahead of schedule in Gainesville
and has his team moving into our CFP projection for the first time this season. Looking forward, Florida plays Missouri, Texas and Georgia over the next five weeks," he offers.
Crawford foresees the Orange and Blue prevailing over the Ducks in the Swamp and advancing to the Cotton Bowl, where Sumrall and Co. are lined up for a rematch against the second-seeded Georgia Bulldogs.
"Imagine the hype for this game if we get Gators-Bulldogs in a CFP quarterfinal?" he asks.
However, Crawford expects UGA to prevail and move on to the semifinals, where the 'Dawgs are projected to face the third-seeded Indiana Hoosiers in the Sugar Bowl.
Nonetheless, it is an exciting time for the Gator Nation, and hopefully, Florida can live up to the hype it has built one-third of the way through the season. The next test comes this Saturday on the road against the Missouri Tigers at Faurot Field, where UF has won just twice in six tries.
CBS Sports' College Football Playoff seeds after Week 4
- Miami
- Georgia
- Ohio State
- Notre Dame
- Texas
- Indiana
- Florida
- Alabama
- BYU
- Oregon
- Ole Miss
- Boise State
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Projecting Florida's College Football Playoff seed, results
