Every Florida Gators Bowl Projection After Ole Miss Win

With one week of the regular slate left to go, here is where everyone is sending the Florida Gators for bowl season

Here are the current bowl projections for the Florida Gators / Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Florida Gators (6-5, 4-4 SEC) are going bowling for the first time since 2022. After toppling No. 9 Ole Miss, they can have a winning season locked up for the first time since 2020 with a win over Florida State. 

With the Gators very much in the discussion, let’s look at their current bowl projections. These are the published projections as of Monday morning on Nov. 25 and are subject to change. Anything published later on was not able to be included in this edition.

Bowl games projected last week but no longer are: Las Vegas Bowl, Music City Bowl  

Gasparilla Bowl (Dec. 20)

Projected Matchups: West Virginia (CBS Sports), Virginia Tech (247 Sports), UConn (Sporting News), USF (USA Today, Action Network, College Football News)

This became a very popular choice very quickly. Last week, just College Football News and the Action Network projected the Gasparilla Bowl. Four more outlets have since flipped their projections. 

The lone USF matchup projection from last week also grew in popularity - though the Virginia Tech matchup managed to stick around. 

Florida has played in the Gasparilla once back in 2021 when they lost to UCF, 29-17. They already beat UCF earlier this year. This could be a sign the Gators could redeem the bowl loss as well.

Florida has played West Virginia twice with the most recent bout coming in the 1994 Sugar Bowl. The Gators throttled the Mountaineers 41-7 to spoil their national title hopes. 

In the second Gasparilla Bowl scenario, the Gators would play Virginia Tech for the first time since 1985. Like Florida, it hasn’t been a great year record-wise for Tech, but they similarly have had some stronger games against ranked opponents. They lost to Miami on a controversial review and they put up a fight against Clemson.  

This wouldn't be the first time Florida and USF faced off at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. The Bulls hosted the Gators in 2021. The Gators won 42-20. The following year, Florida barely escaped USF in The Swamp 31-28.

Birmingham Bowl (Dec. 27)

Projected Matchups: NC State (ESPN)

ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura likes the Birmingham Bowl projection and is sticking to it. He’s changed his matchup, however. 

Florida appeared in the Birmingham Bowl once back in January 2015, beating East Carolina, 28-20. I clarify the month because the following season had the bowl game played in December of the same calendar year. 

In this projection second game, looks like Florida will play NC State after all. Florida was originally supposed to play the Wolfpack on Sept. 5, 2026, but the two schools canceled their future home and home. The two schools have played each other 14 times with most of the games coming from semi-regular meetups in the 1920s and 1930s. The last meet up was in the 1992 Gator Bowl. Florida won 27-10. This matchup rides on an indirect prediction that NC State will beat UNC this weekend to clinch bowl eligibility. 

Liberty Bowl (Dec. 27)

Projected Matchup: TCU (ESPN), Kansas State (Athlon)

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach has flipped his pick of the Gators in the Las Vegas Bowl to the Liberty Bowl.  

The Gators are one of the few SEC schools to have never played in this game. If it wasn’t for adding Texas and Oklahoma - two schools that haven’t played in it either - they would be the only ones. 

According to Winsipedia, Florida has never played TCU. While the Horned Frogs are no longer the team that reached the CFP National Championship Game two years ago, they can still finish with a respectable 8-4 record this year. 

Florida hasn’t played Kansas State since 1973 when they beat the Wildcats 21-10 in Gainesville.