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It was (thankfully) a rather quiet week in Gator Nation, with most of the news coming in the form that can be easily summarized on a Saturday by a person still having all manner of sleep issues during the week. (So, yes, watch out for that.)
But Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin couldn’t help but make a little noise during Florida’s bye by putting out an OPPONENTS WANTED sign on Twitter:
Attention ADs from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 or Pac-12 … @GatorsFB is looking to add additional Home-and-Home series against P5 opponents. Let’s connect and schedule quality games the fans want to see! #GoGators
— Scott Stricklin (@ScottStricklin) October 22, 2019
I am, uh, nearly three full days late on this, so I assume you’ve seen Texas AD Chris Del Conte’s winking “We got you,” Clemson AD Dan Radakovich’s “Hmmm, maybe in nearly two decades,” and Iowa State AD Jamie Pollard’s laughably haughty “Well, maybe if you played 10 Power Five teams a season, like our conference does (because we were net losers in the last major round of expansion and need to do this to help ourselves)” response. I also suspect you, as smart human beings who have been hipped to Stricklin’s ability to both get things done and let the public peek behind the curtain at things getting done, were maybe not surprised by Stricklin posting a cryptic follow-up this Friday.
The fun thing to talk about when it comes to future Florida opponents is wish-casting those opponents, though. There’s only so much to make of the minutiae of ADing.
I think Clemson’s a good pick, and I have a list of other programs I think will remain peers and will make for scenic and fun trips down the line. I also think there are more than a few schools that Florida should outright reject. (I’ve maybe been mentally writing multiple posts on this for years, and only Stricklin making some concrete plans this offseason preempted me writing more then.)
But I figure y’all have opinions on which teams Florida should schedule, and when. (And maybe even where!) Feel free to use this as your guide, and let’s chat on who should and shouldn’t make the cut.