Florida mong most polarizing college football team entering 2026

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The nation's favorite collegiate sport returns to the gridiron this weekend, and ahead of the start of college football's 2026 season, USA TODAY Sports writer Craig Meyer put together his list of the eight most polarizing teams entering fall.

What makes a team polarizing?

The reasons range from programs that have struggled the past few years, but have been re-energized by the arrival of a new coach, to historic powerhouses that have faded recently, but still have built-in name recognition and goodwill. Some are afterthoughts who might struggle to make a bowl, but others could find their way into the College Football Playoff if things break right.

Among those mentioned by Meyer are the Florida Gators, who check a few of those boxes. The Gainesville gang is a historic powerhouse that has faded over the past decade but still maintains some lingering name recognition, who have also brought in a new head coach to try and turn things around.

"Since a Cotton Bowl appearance at the end of the 2020 season, the Gators have been mired in mediocrity, going 29-34 during that time. They’ve got newfound hope with the arrival of coach Jon Sumrall, who is 43-12 as a head coach and just took Tulane to the College Football Playoff. Sumrall has made inspired hires for his staff, none of them more impactful than offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner, and brought aboard a top-30 transfer portal class.

"Florida isn’t being discussed as a national title contender — it was ninth of 16 teams in the SEC’s preseason poll — but regardless, a team that has won more than six games in a season just once in the past five years received the second-most votes of squads outside the top 25 in the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll. Sumrall’s more than proven his chops as a coach, but can he turn it around that quickly?"

Facing another brutal schedule that includes an expanded nine-game SEC slate, things could cut either way for the Orange and Blue. A couple of bad losses could easily doom the Gators to their third bowl-less postseason in the past four years, while a few key victories could see them sneak into the playoffs.

It all begins on Saturday, Sept. 5, when Florida hosts FAU at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Week 1 of the 2026 campaign.

USA TODAY Sports' most polarizing college football teams

  • Ole Miss
  • Clemson
  • UCLA
  • Florida
  • Utah
  • Oklahoma State
  • Cal
  • South Carolina

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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida mong most polarizing college football team entering 2026

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