Grading each bowl game that includes a Floridian team
By Austin Lloyd
Florida Gators: C
We’re getting cooking right out of the gate with this one, as I give the Florida Gators a frighteningly mediocre grade of “C” for their bowl game.
The Gators are set to face the Oregon State Beavers in the Las Vegas Bowl. To the casual football fan, there isn’t much to complain about when hearing that, as Florida is 6-6 and the Las Vegas Bowl is not a particularly “elite” stage. The problem comes in when looking at the other half of the matchup.
Sure, Oregon State has struggled a great deal over the past several years, having nothing but losing records from 2014 to 2020. But, one would not have known that from this season, as the Beavers are entering the Las Vegas Bowl at an impressive 9-3. Such a record has been headlined by excusable losses and a comeback win over a ranked Oregon.
In other words, Oregon State has its best regular season in recent memory (since its 2012-13 run, to be exact), and the best it can get is a date with a school that was one loss away from not even being bowl-eligible? That’s wack.
The only reason I did not give this bowl game a grade lower than “C” is because of two things: the differences in both talent and strength of schedule. Those two factors, while the severities of their impact are up for debate, give the discussion of Florida’s competitive worthiness more life.
Speaking of which, let’s not forget that the Gators and Beavers shared a common opponent earlier in their schedules: the Utah Utes. Even though the games were on different days and at different sites—and even though the Beavers have bounced back beautifully since Ben Gulbranson has been starting QB—the fact that Utah fell to Florida mere weeks before crushing Oregon State nonetheless stands.
But while I hope that all of this adds to the chances of the Las Vegas Bowl being closer than the records would have us think, the matter of Florida not deserving their current circumstances remains unfazed. Consequently, the grade for this matchup still sucks.