After playing their most complete game of 2024, the Florida Gators will have to face its toughest four-game stretch in recent memory in hopes of making a bowl game.
The Gators, now 4-3 on the season after their blowout victory over the Kentucky Wildcats on Oct. 19 and a bye this past weekend, will match up with four straight top 20 teams in the AP Poll, the first of which will be No. 2 Georgia in Jacksonville.
This Saturday, the Gators and Bulldogs will meet for the 102nd time as Florida tries to swing the rivalry back in favor of the Sunshine State after losing six of the last seven against Georgia. The Bulldogs will be coming into this game with tons of momentum after their dominant performance against the then No. 1 Texas Longhorns.
After the Georgia matchup, Florida will travel to Austin to take on No. 5 Texas on Nov. 9 as the Gators will try to spoil the Longhorns’ SEC title hopes in their first season in the conference.
Texas has looked like one of, if not the best, teams in the nation this season. However, in their loss to Georgia, the Longhorns showed signs of weakness at home. Florida will hope to exploit the same weaknesses as the Bulldogs did in front of 100,000-plus in Austin. This will be just the fourth ever time Florida and Texas will meet on the gridiron, with the last time coming back in 1940.
The next two games for the Gators after Texas will be at home against LSU on Nov. 16 and Ole Miss on Nov. 23. These are two more teams who have impressed this season and are ranked 16th and 19th respectively.
LSU was beaten by Texas A&M on Saturday and will host Alabama in Death Valley before heading to Gainesville to take on the Gators. The Tigers have owned this rivalry in recent years, including five straight wins over Florida coming into this season.
The final of four straight games against top-20 opponents will come against the Ole Miss Rebels. Sitting at 6-2 right now, the Rebels will play Arkansas and Georgia before the matchup with Florida. The high-flying Lane Kiffin offense of Ole Miss will be a challenge for the Gators, but if Florida can continue to defend as they have in the last two games, it should make for a tightly contested battle.
Coming into this season and after their Week 1 loss to Miami, the fans and media alike did not have high hopes for the Orange and Blue. However, if Florida can pull off an upset against one of its next four ranked opponents and take care of business in the final game of the regular season against a struggling 1-7 Florida State squad, the Gators will be bowl-eligible for the second time in three years under Billy Napier.
The first November test for the Gators will come this Saturday against Georgia at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
ChompTalk.com 
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