JACKSONVILLE — This summer, the alligatorSports football reporters predicted which teams we thought would win the Southeastern Conference and its divisions.
I was the only one to choose Florida — a prediction for which I received a good amount of playful rib jabbing.
But now, I look like a genius. Undeservedly so, of course.
Anyone who has had the good fortune of talking about sports with me knows I base my predictions off of sheer gut instinct, with a tendency to get a little ballsy with my selections.
That’s an ego-padding way of saying I frequently predict the unexpected simply because it would be crazy if said outcome actually happened.
Choosing Florida to win the SEC East was absolutely a prediction I made because of how implausible it seemed.
The Gators had just gone 7-5, and there wasn’t any indication the offense would be better under coach Jim McElwain.
And without Dante Fowler Jr. leading the pass rush, there were legitimate concerns the defense would suffer a drop-off.
I, like so many others, was convinced former coach Will Muschamp was a significant factor in UF’s defense being elite.
As it turns out, all Muschamp was doing was holding UF’s offense back.
What was unofficially dubbed by the fanbase and media alike as a season of transition must now be labeled UF’s return to national prominence.
Just like Muschamp rightfully received the majority of the blame for UF’s struggles, McElwain deserves the majority of the credit for the team’s turnaround.
"Coach Mac, he’s doing a hell of a job," junior running back Kelvin Taylor said. "The guys were tired of losing, man."
Taylor’s right: The Gators were tired of losing, and they’ve played like it.
UF has won games they weren’t expected to win.
It took everything going right for the Gators to beat Tennessee, and then-No. 3 Ole Miss was predicted to expose Florida at home by more than a touchdown.
And then there’s the off-the-field distractions that could have halted the team’s progress in its tracks.
Both quarterbacks, a starting safety and a starting RUSH linebacker had been suspended, on top of former running back Adam Lane leaving the team before the season.
Include the arrests of cornerbacks Deiondre Porter and J.C. Jackson and it would be understandable if the Gators were a .500 team heading into Saturday’s battle with Vanderbilt on Homecoming.
But they’re not, and for that, the McElwain-led Gators deserve all the credit.
Save for a seven-point loss to a good-as-they’ve-ever-been LSU team, Florida has handled every test this unpredictable season has thrown at it.
Barring an unforeseen collapse, the Gators should easily trounce Vandy, Florida Atlantic and South Carolina and head into Atlanta to face the SEC West champion.
If Florida wins out, they have more than just a solid chance to make the College Football Playoff.
Whodathunkit?
Well, here’s where I admit I wasn’t the only one in Gainesville who thought the team would prove everyone wrong: The Gators have publicly said for months they can beat any team.
"Yeah," cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III said frankly when asked if he thought at the beginning of the season that the Gators would make it to Atlanta.
"But where we are now, we can only stop ourselves."
Follow Graham Hall on Twitter @Graham311
UF defensive back Vernon Hargreaves III returns an intercepted pass during the first half of Florida's 27-3 win against Georgia on Oct. 31, 2015, at EverBank Field in Jacksonville.
