Florida owns the best résumé in college football so far this season after demolishing South Carolina
Did you not believe in Florida? Were you taking a wait-and-see approach on the Gators, even after they beat LSU, to see if that No. 2 spot in the BCS standings was legit?
Time to get on board. Florida showed Saturday that it absolutely has an argument to be called the best team in the country right now.
The Gators' 44-11 win over South Carolina -- which was ranked No. 3 just a week ago -- wasn't quite as dominant as the final score indicated. Florida was actually outgained 193-182. Four turnovers helped. But that doesn't take much away from the Gators, who are 7-0 overall 6-0 in the SEC. With a win against Georgia next week, Florida can start to make plans to be in Atlanta for the SEC title game.
[Photos: Highlights from South Carolina vs. Florida]
Florida's offense didn't gain a lot of yards but made some big plays. Jeff Driskel had four touchdown passes. The Gators were 7 of 16 on third-down conversions against a very good defense. And the Gators' defense was fantastic. South Carolina used two quarterbacks, and neither completed half their passes or had more than 100 yards passing, despite each having 20 attempts. The Gators had five sacks, and also allowed just 2.9 yards per rushing play.
Florida's body of work is impressive. There are road wins against Texas A&M, which played LSU tough on Saturday, and Tennessee. And there are wins against LSU and South Carolina, which were each top 10 teams. Nobody has a better resume than the Gators right now. The only thing keeping Florida from being ranked No. 1 is the preseason poll and the inane marriage to it even after the season starts. As great as Alabama is, its best win is against a Michigan team that is barely hanging around in the AP poll.
If Florida ends up playing Alabama in the SEC title game it might not be a pretty, high-scoring affair (sound familiar?), but that game looks like it will determine one participant in the BCS Championship Game. The way Florida and Alabama are playing, even the loser might have a legitimate argument to be included in the national championship game.
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