The Coaches' Poll has Alabama at the top, followed by Ohio State and your Florida Gators at third. Texas and Boise State finish the top-5.
Preseason polls are meaningless, but college football polls are fairly accurate. Aside from the rise of mid-majors, the recent National Champions were not surprises. Maybe UF in 2006 was a surprise, but a mild one.
I would be very happy with a No. 3 finish, even if that means losing to Alabama twice. I'm almost certain Bama is better than UF. I also think UF will be better in 2011 than 2010, even with a new offensive line and improved SEC teams in a year.
The question for you; is Florida the third best team? My answer would be yes. Texas is working in a new quarterback and Boise State is still a question mark, which makes both teams as good as UF. But UF has a defensive edge. Ohio State is a safe pick at No. 2 and Bama deserves No. 1. You can make a pretty good case that UF is better than Virginia Tech, TCU, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Iowa, who fill out the bottom of the top-10. Maybe Florida's ranking is a result of a lull in college football, before the sport explodes in 2011 with the Pac-12 and Big Ten Plus Two. If that is the case, a rebuilding UF can win more than we might think in 2010.