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Florida Football: Ranking 2022 opponents by toughness

By Connor Muldowney

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 27: Anthony Richardson #15 of the Florida Gators looks to pass against Fabien Lovett #0 of the Florida State Seminoles during the third quarter of a game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on November 27, 2021 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 27: Anthony Richardson #15 of the Florida Gators looks to pass against Fabien Lovett #0 of the Florida State Seminoles during the third quarter of a game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on November 27, 2021 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images) /
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Florida football is facing a somewhat favorable schedule this season, but how do the Gators’ opponents stack up against each other?

Dan Mullen is out and Billy Napier is in. Florida football has gone through plenty of changes over the past eight months but fans are hopeful that they happened for the better.

The Gators went just 6-7 last season in Mullen’s final year and lost in embarrassing fashion to in-state foe UCF in the Gasparilla Bowl. It’s time for Napier to turn things around.

With a favorable schedule in 2022, the Gators could make a turnaround quicker than expected.

How do the Gators’ 2022 opponents stack up against each other?

This is one of those tricky games that may sit at No. 12 on this list, but it could be much tougher than that ranking. The Eagles were 10-3 on the year with two regular-season losses by a total of three points and they were bounced in the second round of the FCS playoffs. They also beat an FBS team in UNLV, so maybe the Eagles are closer to a tougher matchup than USF than I thought.

You have no idea how close I was to putting USF at No. 12 on this list strictly based on the fact that they are just 3-18 over the past two seasons under Jeff Scott. But with Jaren Mangham at running back and Gerry Bohanon transferring in from Baylor to play quarterback, I see the Bulls winning around 4-5 games this season.

South Florida isn’t going to contend in the American, by any means, but the team should be a lot more fun to watch with Bahanon and Mangham manning the backfield.

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