Tables have Turned on Florida and Florida State

Oh what a difference a year makes. The Florida Gators are firmly on the upswing while FSU is at it's lowest of lows.

Florida Gators freshman quarterback DJ Lagway has sparked a renaissance in Gainesville, while FSU is mired in the muck. / Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Still buzzing from the upset win against Ole Miss, the Florida Gators must now focus in and improve their bowl chances with a win versus Florida State. With a bowl game in their pocket, UF hopes to silence their in-state rival to cap off a rewarding season. 

Granted Florida State sits at a dismal 2-9, looking forward to the season's ending and embracing off-season changes. A year ago, Florida State looked headed towards the College Football Playoff  and the Gators sat mired in a brutal losing streak to end the 2024 season.

Now, the entire shoe store is on the other foot.

Nightmare Fuel

If not for the Cal kicker that missed two makeable field goals, FSU would not boast a single win over an FBS opponent. They rank 131st out of 133 teams in total offense. A year ago, the Seminoles claimed the 54th best offense.

Similarly, the defensive performance also plummeted. FSU's defense ranks 87th and 88th in scoring defense and total defense respectively.

Last season, only 27 FBS teams fielded a better defense. In football teams collapse over a period of time. Few, if any teams fall from grace with the time-altering velocity of Florida State. People wanted to construct statues of Mike Norvell last year.

Now, fans and pundits alike want to run him completely out of Tallahassee. 

Late Season Surge

Meanwhile in Gainesville, the Florida Gators enter the game with a sense of unbridled joy. Conquering a schedule that would destroy most teams, Florida fought through it. The players survived injuries, self-doubt and pressure to fashion at least a six-win campaign out of the toughest schedule in recent team memory. 

Within that schedule, they defeated two teams in LSU and Ole Miss that looked headed towards the playoff. Furthermore, they gave Georgia and Tennessee all they could handle, while soundly defeating Kentucky and Mississippi State.

Recruits are paying attention to the direction of each respective program. On Tuesday morning, the Florida Gators got their third commitment from a former FSU pledge.

Uncertain Future

A year ago, FSU won the ACC championship, presumably headed for the CFP. When the committee decided the ACC wasn't a worthy conference, the 'Noles' players jumped ship. What was left of the team ran into a UGA buzzsaw.

With that said, their biggest matchup arose versus the ACC. Florida State wants to leave the conference. 

The irony isn't lost on older college football fans who remember Bobby Bowden and Florida State as an independent choosing the ACC over the SEC because of an easier pathway to a national championship. To be fair, FSU won three since making the move to the ACC.

The conference holds them to a grant of rights that presumably keeps FSU in the fold. Undaunted, Florida State continues to sue for its freedom. The ACC wants FSU to also leave their television rights money behind on their way out the door. As divorces go, this one looks  more acrimonious than most and could alter the face of college athletics.

Always Sunny in the SEC

UF looks firmly entrenched in the revenue-generating goliath known as the SEC. Florida, as an athletics department just wants to start winning again, restoring the luster and prestige to the program.

In regards to football, the administration must love the lucrative nature and security of the SEC. Teams don't leave the conference. 

Instead, they join them, in droves. Florida State looks at the SEC like a starving lion does a gazelle: hungry for the opportunity, but do they have enough strength left to catch its prey?

In all honesty, what can FSU bring to the conference that they don't already enjoy?

Bottom Line

The UF/FSU evokes memories of the 1980s movie Trading Places. A struggling man was given all the trappings of wealth. While a rich man, through circumstances beyond his control, was forced into a life of poverty and crime.

There’s little hope of Florida and FSU teaming up on the establishment for a triumph of good over evil. This time, the Gators are going to revel looking down at their rivals in the much.

The last 12 months and all of the moving pieces show how fickle fate plays into the path of football teams. Now, Florida looks like the team trending upwards while Florida cannot find a scintilla of prosperity.