The 50 greatest college football teams throughout history

22. Best college football teams of all-time: 2008 Florida

After an incredibly disappointing end to the 2007 season in which the defending national champion Gators had a dangerous offense but failed to put things together on defense thanks to a depleted defensive roster, head coach Urban Meyer’s Florida team desperately needed a shakeup.

They got one, but perhaps not one of the types that Meyer would’ve preferred.

For the first time in his then-three seasons with Florida, Meyer suffered the loss of assistant coaches. His co-recruiting coordinator (who brought stellar classes into Florida in year’s prior) left, as well as a group of other coaches including Dan Mullen. Most left to pursue other jobs, fresh off of gaining national championship-level experience under Meyer.

The team didn’t disappoint, however. It shined.

Beginning the season ranked at No. 12 in the country the Gators, led by Tim Tebow, went on to take down the first three teams they faced in crushing fashion. They dropped their fourth game losing by one point to Ole Miss which led to Tebow’s infamous speech.

That didn’t deter them though, it only motivated them. They went on to take down several top-rated teams, including a 30-point win over No. 4 LSU, 39-point win vs. No. 8 Georgia, 11-point win vs. Alabama to win the SEC and a 10-point win vs. Alabama to win the national championship.