College Football Preview: #8 Florida Gators vs. Miami Hurricanes

The Florida Gators and Miami Hurricanes will face off in the marquee matchup of college football opening weekend. Who will come out on top?

The overall series swings in the favor of the team in South Beach. But as of late, it’s the school out of the swamp that has spent the most time in the national spotlight. For the first time since 2013, the Florida Gators and the Miami Hurricanes will meet. Trust me when I say there is plenty of bragging rights and trash talk in this one that makes this an important showdown.

First-year head coach Manny Diaz is in charge of the Hurricanes program after an ugly ending to the Mark Richt era after last season. Diaz is deemed as the prodigal son who comes home to right the ship but in actuality, the same was said about Richt.

What Diaz does have at this point is the pulse of the Hurricanes fan base. Thanks to the newly instituted Transfer Portal by the NCAA, Diaz added several key players from former schools to boost the Hurricanes overall roster. Whether that equates to an improvement from last year’s 7-6 season remains to be seen.

For the Florida Gators, a team that returns 14 starters after going 10-3 last season and finished seventh in the AP poll, a trip to the SEC championship game is not out of the question. A redshirt junior quarterback and an athletic defense will take this team as far as they can go. Starting off the season with a win over the Hurricanes will definitely get things going in the right direction. Time to break down this juicy matchup.