We want Bama: Florida’s Dan Mullen wants Gators to play Alabama more often
Florida’s Dan Mullen would like to see the SEC do away with permanent crossover opponents so the Gators could face Alabama and others more often.
For the first time since 2011, the Florida Gators will host the Alabama Crimson Tide in Gainesville for a game at The Swamp.
Head coach Dan Mullen doesn’t want to wait another decade for that matchup to land on the schedule.
“I’d love for us to maybe do away with the permanent crossover team, so you get these type of games more often,” Mullen said, per Jarod Hamilton of The Tuscaloosa News. “I think for the players, for the fanbases, I really think it’s exciting to see some more of maybe mixing up the teams from the West and playing two different teams each year instead of a permanent crossover. I think that would be really exciting, so you get this matchup.
“We’d love to see that more. There’s 10 teams that will visit ー there’s non-conference teams that will visit The Swamp a lot more than conference teams. I think you’d love to see maybe a better rotation of those teams.”
Dan Mullen would rather play Alabama more often than seeing LSU each year
Currently, SEC teams play all the other teams in their division, then one permanent crossover from the other division and one other non-divisional opponent on a rotation.
Florida has a yearly meeting with LSU under that system. Alabama takes on Tennessee each year.
The Gators have played Alabama three times since their last regular-season meeting in 2014 in Tuscaloosa. Those SEC Championship Game bouts have all gone in the Tides’ favor. Florida last beat Alabama in the 2008 SEC championship game. They’ve lost seven in a row since.
The downside of getting rid of permanent crossovers is fewer matchups with rivals from the other division. LSU and Florida would meet on a rotation instead of regularly.
While getting Alabama more often would be fun, they’d also have to see Mississippi State, Arkansas, Ole Miss and others more as well. Then again, that might ease the schedule occasionally.
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