These Gators football matchups among must-see games in 2023
The 2023 college football schedule could be one for the ages ahead of the impending expansion era.
The Big Ten is adding both the UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans for the 2024 calendar year, while the SEC is adding the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns to widen its member base to 16 schools. Meanwhile, the College Football Playoffs will also expand to the 12-team field the following season as the sport continues to evolve with the changing times.
While the worm continues to turn for Florida football, which suffered its first consecutive losing seasons since the end of the 1970s, the Orange and Blue remain in the mix of things in the national spotlight. College Sports Wire’s Patrick Conn recently published an exhaustive list of his must-see games in each week of the 2023 season which included three Gators matchups on the fall schedule
Take a look below at the trio of games Billy Napier’s team plays next fall that you certainly want to mark your calendars for.
Week 1: Florida Gators vs Utah Utes
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Is there payback on the mind of the two-time defending Pac-12 champions as they open the 2023 season? Last year the Gators and Utes opened the season down in the Swamp. After beating Utah, expectations were reset after Florida won 29-26 on an Anthony Richardson one-yard touchdown run with 1:25 remaining in the game.
Following the loss, Utah rattled off five consecutive wins to take control of their own destiny. The season ended with a Pac-12 title but a loss in the Rose Bowl for the second straight year. Going into 2023, quarterback Cam Rising is hoping to win another title that gives them an opportunity in the CFP.
For the Gators, the team wants to build off a solid offseason. Head coach Billy Napier will be under some immense heat if the season ends in the same manner as 2022. It begins in Salt Lake City as Florida kicks off the season.
Florida owns the all-time series 2-0. Both games were played in Gainesville, with the first coming in the 1977 season. Can Florida get a win in Salt Lake City?
Week 3: Tennessee at Florida (Honorable Mention)
Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
The Gators want to defend the Swamp after losing in Knoxville last year for the first time since 2016. The Vols want to start a new streak of wins over Florida. Tennessee hasn’t won back-to-back games in this series since the 2003 and 2004 seasons.
Week 9: Georgia Bulldogs vs Florida Gators (World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party)
Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun
No offense to Tennessee, but there isn’t a bigger game in the SEC East than the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. These bitter rivals have represented their division in the SEC title game in each of the last eight seasons. The winner of this game has huge implications.
Last year the Gators lost 42 to 20 and our hoping that they can end the streak of two straight losses in the series. The last win came in the pandemic-shortened season of 2020. The defense will need to be a lot better for that to happen and Graham Mertz will need to guide this offense.
Georgia is reloading for another title run in 2023 and this will be an important game to win for the Bulldogs. They have the talent but you never know when rivals take the field.
The Bulldogs own the all-time series edge, 54-44-2, and have won six of the last seven matchups.
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