College Football: 10 Teams who could dethrone Clemson and Alabama

8. Florida 

Florida’s dominance of Michigan in the Peach Bowl raised expectations in Gainesville significantly for 2019. The Gators were already one of college football’s biggest surprises heading into their New Year’s Six matchup after improving from last season’s 4-7 mark.

Dan Mullen worked wonders with QB Feleipe Franks and led the Gators to 10 wins. They far exceeded any reasonable expectations for Mullen’s first season at the helm, and they return enough talent to compete with Georgia for the SEC East crown, which would potentially set them up for an SEC Championship matchup with Alabama with a playoff berth on the line.

Florida returns 12 starters, but will have some key pieces to replace. On offense, they’ll be forced to replace four starters on the offensive line, but they return all of their top receivers as well as leading rusher Lamical Perine.

On defense, the Gators have a key loss at every level. They’ll lose their best pass rusher in Jachai Polite, linebacker Vosean Joseph, and safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson. Fortunately for Mullen, he’s made a furious charge on the recruiting trail to help mitigate those losses.

A big finish to the early signing period, as well as some key additions since then, has Florida ranked 11th nationally according to the 247 composites.

The schedule won’t be easy to navigate, however, but will leave the Gators battle-tested as they head into the postseason. They open the season in Orlando against Miami, and also face tough road tests against Kentucky, LSU, South Carolina, and Missouri as well as their yearly neutral site date with Georgia. They also draw Auburn as their rotational Western division opponent, which will be a tough matchup even in the Swamp.

Florida might also be a year away from seriously challenging for the SEC crown and their first playoff berth, but they could get a big boost on the transfer market if Alabama QB Jalen Hurts elects to bring his talents to Gainesville.