The Florida Gators haven’t played the toughest non-conference football schedule in recent years, choosing instead to primarily stick around the Sunshine State.
Florida’s non-conference schedule typically consists of an annual contest against the in-state rival Florida State Seminoles, two mid-tier or lower Group of Five opponents, and then one team from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
There have been some deviations from that scheduling model, such as playing the Michigan Wolverines at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, in 2016, and taking on the Miami Hurricanes this season at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla.
Additionally, Florida played two FCS opponents in both 2018 and 2019, which is an extremely rare occurrence for Power Five programs.
But Florida Director of Athletics Scott Stricklin, who came over from Mississippi State in 2016, has slowly been working to add tougher opponents to their future football schedules.
Florida State will, of course, continue to be a staple on UF’s non-conference schedule, no matter what the current situation in Tallahassee is. Stricklin has also added home-and-home series with the Utah Utes for 2022 and 2023, the Miami Hurricanes for 2024 and 2025, the Colorado Buffaloes for 2028 and 2029, and the Texas Longhorns for 2030 and 2031.
Interestingly, the game at Utah in 2023 currently stands as the first time the Gators will play a true road game outside of the state of Florida since taking on Syracuse at the Carrier Dome in 1991. Florida lost that game 38-21.
On Tuesday, Stricklin took to his Twitter account to announce to the rest of the Power Five teams that the Gators are looking to schedule more opponents for home-and-homes.
Who will answer the call? Will it be Clemson, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State, and/or USC? There are plenty of options out there, and most are willing to play anyone, anytime, anywhere.
Who would you like to see Florida play? Let us know in the comments below.