They say only the strong survive New Jersey, so maybe the Gators are legit after defeating then No. 2 Michigan State and Rutgers this weekend in Atlantic City. The wins vaulted UF (6-0) into the top-25; 13th in the AP poll and 17th in the Coaches. The Gators have three games in the first 10 days of December, beginning with Florida A&M tomorrow night, Jacksonville (in Jacksonville) on Dec. 4th, and Syracuse on Dec. 10 in Tampa in the made-for-ESPN SEC/Big East Invitational.
With Syracuse (6-0; 8th in the AP, 7th in the Coaches) getting Colgate and Maine before the Gators, it is entirely possible that we see a matchup of top-10 teams next Thursday. Following that it is a break for exams and coasting through mid and low majors before a road trip to start January at NC State and Vanderbilt. We're projecting pretty far here, but unless the injury or flu bug hits the Gators, they will be very competitive come SEC play. That has not always been true the last two seasons.