Expectations,expectations...

USA Today sportswriter Danny Sheridan, who set the line for all sports in the publication, was in Gainesville this week.

He originally set the Florida-Charleston Southern line at 73 then amended it to 63. But the most interesting thing he said was that Florida right now is favored by 21 or more points in nine of its 12 games. In fact the only game they are not double digit favorites is the one against LSU (9 points).

With such high expectations can come disappointment. My thought is, try to enjoy this year, whether we win by 21 or 1. A win is a win and if we win the eight in the middle (the SEC slate) we play for the SEC title. Those are the most important to win. It helps (or could hurt-more on that later) that three of the four remaining games are patsies, so if you win the SEC, more than likely we will be playing for the BCS title.

Now the hurt part. Say we lose a middle to late SEC game like Georgia or South Carolina. Our strength of schedule outside the SEC is so weak, we may not have time to play back into the title picture unless another SEC West team goes undefeated or is ranked 1 or 2 and we beat them in the SEC Championship.

Enough of the negative vibes. All things now point to a great season for the Gators, so take it one game at a time and sit back and enjoy history being made.

PS: Florida 70, Charleston Southern 3

Who do you want Florida to play opening day?

There is no dancing around this--Charleston Southern is not going to be much of a challenge. In fact, unless you like watching bullies ganging up on one little kid half their size on the playground, then you won't be much interested in this game after half time. This begs the question: Who should Florida be playing in its opener? An SEC opponent? Utah? Miami? FSU?
According to Urban Meyer, the Gators almost had Utah as an opener. Remember the Utes? They were undefeated last season and some said they should have shared the title with the Gators. That would have been sweet.
I prefer Miami or an SEC opponent because I want there to be more excitement heading into the opener. No matter how you spin it, no one can get excited about playing the Buccaneers (Chas So). Sure, I get excited about opening day. But not about our opponent. What makes the game special is the fear that you might lose. That elevates the game to a whole other level for me.
Just think how pumped you would be right now if we were playing Mississippi State on Saturday!

Percy replacement?

Highly touted freshman Andre Debose sore hamstring is more than just pulled. An MRI revealed he has a tendon tear where the hamstring connects to the bone. If he has to have surgery, he could be out for the year. Debose was tabbed as the heir apparent to take over as next Percy Harvin. Sad for Debose, but it always seemed like Demps, Rainey, Moody and James weren't getting their fair share because Harvin got the ball all the time. it will be exciting to see those other guys get to show what they can do.

Florida loaded for bear...or tiger, or bulldog, or wildcat..

Gainesville Sun Sportswriter John Patton gives 10 reasons why Florida will have an awesome team this year. It's stuff Gator fans already know, but we love to read about how "great it is to be a Flor-i-da Gator."