Florida Football: Can Gators close with wins over Florida State, Alabama?

Does the Florida Gators ride stop here or is their magical journey just beginning?

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Florida’s storyline for this season is not yet complete, but the ending is all but guaranteed to be happy. Will Muschamp is gone and the Gators blow away expectations is a title that fits regardless of what happens the next three weeks. Are there greater surprises in store before the book is closed for 2015?

Florida just capped off its SEC season with a 7-1 record and its first division championship since 2009. The Gators’ performance far exceeded preseason prognostications generally ranging around fifth place. The individual game performances were less impressive. The latest survive and advance struggle was a 27-17 win at South Carolina. That game followed a 9-7 gem over Vanderbilt. The Gators could’ve easily lost to the Commodores, as well as Kentucky (14-9) and Tennessee (28-27).

Look around the nation though. All the contenders must find a way without its “A” game once or three times. I consider Alabama and Ohio State the two best teams in the country and they’ve combined for four ugly wins minimum. No. 1 Clemson almost never got its probable playoff campaign underway thanks to a turnover-laden 20-17 effort at Louisville. Notre Dame needed a last second bomb to beat hapless Virginia.

And those are the teams advancing. Talk to Michigan State, Stanford, Utah, TCU, Ole Miss and Georgia about winning games you’re supposed to. Oklahoma lost to Texas for goodness sakes. Considering another crazy year in college football, Florida is fairing just fine.

The Cinderella story will derail though if the Gators keep playing like a Gator Bowl bound team instead of a team with a legitimate shot at the final four. Now that the Pac-12 is all but eliminated, will an SEC Champion be denied? I would have to see it to believe it and then I still probably wouldn’t believe it.

Florida Atlantic provides a breather this Saturday before the annual in-state showdown with Florida State. The Seminoles are a similarly built club with athletes all over the defensive depth chart, but with offensive woes holding them back.

This group held down Deshaun Watson and Clemson for 52 minutes, but didn’t have the firepower to pull away from Boston College, South Florida and Wake Forest. With a still legitimate FSU squad in the way, dare we bring up Alabama? The Tide has looked invincible in recent weeks, but earlier showings against Ole Miss, Arkansas and Tennessee bring hope.

For more information and analysis on the Gators and if they can beat Florida State and Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, you can listen to the following podcast.

David Waters of GatorSportsRadio.com joined me to break down Florida’s chances of turning a surprising season into a special season.