Florida makes compelling playoff case vs. Alabama in SEC Championship Game

Should the College Football Playoff consider Florida for one of four spots after the Gators battled Alabama in the SEC Championship Game?

Though it will likely be the Alabama Crimson Tide as the only SEC team to make the College Football Playoff this year, what we saw out of Dan Mullen‘s Florida Gators on Saturday night signifies they are finally ready to win it all again.

Florida football fans realized they were not making the College Football Playoff after losing at home last week in embarrassing fashion to the LSU Tigers. However, they should be proud of this team, as they put forth a championship-level effort against the best team in the land in what was the best Power 5 conference championship game of the weekend. Florida is officially back.

No team has played Alabama this tough all season

Alabama was a sizable favorite to beat Florida in the 2020 SEC Championship game. Despite having essentially clinched a playoff spot unofficially last week with a blowout win over the Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville, Alabama was playing for the No. 1 seed in the four-team field on Saturday night. Florida’s best effort nearly knocked Alabama all the way down to maybe No. 3.

By this time tomorrow, Florida will know what New Year’s Six bowl it will be going to. The Gators will be New Year’s Six bound for the third time in as many years during Mullen’s Florida tenure. Though they are 8-3 on the season, 2020 was a monumental step in the right direction for the Gators program. It may not happen in 2021, but Florida is now playing for championships again.

Of course, the Gators will have to deal with teams like Alabama and their SEC East rival Georgia Bulldogs in the years to come, but Florida showed us it was not going to cower in a massive title fight. Though they may not have made the playoff field anyway with an SEC Championship victory, it would have certainly made for the most interesting playoff selection show of our lifetimes.

While offensive stars quarterback Kyle Trask, tight end Kyle Pitts and wide receiver Kadarius Toney will all go pro, Florida can be proud of the year it had to even get this far. Not only did it beat Georgia to win the SEC East for the first time since 2016, but it gave the presumptive favorites to win the national title all they could handle. Florida absolutely proved they belong in defeat.

As long as Mullen is in charge, Florida will be in the mix to contend for future playoff berths.

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