USA TODAY Sports predicts this bowl game for Florida after Week 1
Florida football made some major moves after its season-opening victory over the Utah Utes, the reigning Pac-12 champions who entered the game ranked in the top 10 in both major polls. The win catapulted the Gators in the top 20 of ostensibly every ranking out there while also giving a rosier outlook on where the Orange and Blue might play in the postseason.
USA TODAY Sports’ Erick Smith released his college football bowl projections following Week 1 of play, predicting that Billy Napier’s squad will face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the ReliaQuest Bowl on January 2, 2023. The bowl game formerly known as the Outback Bowl from 1996 to 2022 is bracketed to host either a Big Ten or ACC school against an SEC team.
Smith is not the only one who sees the Gators as Tampa-bound this bowl season, as CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm also foresees an in-state destination in the future, except that the opponent in his prediction is the Wisconsin Badgers.
A return to Raymond James Stadium would mark the second-straight year Florida finishes its schedule down I-75 after its embarrassing loss to the UCF Knights last year in the Gasparilla Bowl. Hopefully this time around it will be in a much more prestigious atmosphere than before.
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