Dooley’s Back Nine: Florida Football’s Record This Fall

The Back Nine comes at you after a glorious weekend, unless you don’t like sweating, burning your hands on the steering wheel of your car and wondering what the temperature is in Iceland every 10 minutes.

10. We’re here. The start of Florida’s football camp is this week and the first pretend NFL game is Thursday night. Football is back, kind of. I get at least two people a day who ask me what I think is going to happen with the Gators this year and you know that I have no idea. High ceiling, low floor because of the tough schedule. Anything is possible. That’s what makes it fun. Although it was a lot more fun when you KNEW Florida was going to be good and it was just a matter of HOW GOOD? The 1990s under Steve Spurrier were so much fun and I treasure those memories, but it is time to create some new ones.

11. It’s funny, because Florida is already an underdog in five games in the early spreads that Vegas has supplied. And that doesn’t include Ole Miss on the road. Of course, you have no idea what the situation will be — for example — when the Gators take on Georgia. Injuries change everything. Anyway, here is my answer to how I think Florida will do this year — 9-3, which would likely get them into the playoffs. The Gators have to split their six biggest games to do that, and I think that is certainly the plan. Have to play better on the road to do that.

12. I sure hope the CFP Selection Committee is going to allow for soft scheduling when they decide who will make the playoffs. Curt Cignetti, the Indiana coach and sometimes stand-up comedian, said his school dropped Virginia as an opponent because “we taking up the SEC scheduling model.” Maybe the doofuses on the committee will realize that your schedule matters but so does who you beat. I worry that soft schedules could become the norm if you don’t do exactly what basketball has done, which is to reward teams for at least trying to play good teams. As my friend Blake Toppmeyer pointed out in USA Today, if Indiana is afraid of Virginia, it doesn’t deserve a playoff nod.

13. Congrats to the great Maurkice Pouncey for being voted into the Steelers Hall of Fame. Now, let’s see if we can’t get a couple of linemen in the Ring of Honor. A ceremony for Lomas Brown and Pouncey would make a lot of Gator fans very happy.

14. Also, to Billy Donovan for getting an extension with the Bulls. It’s difficult to believe that he has won 438 games in five NBA seasons despite the problems in Chicago. I’ve told people who think he might get popped that the Bulls think the world of him and here is more proof.

15. Looking forward to having some NFL games to pick and next week I will give you my selections for the NFL playoffs. I am looking forward to it because I really stunk at picking the four majors this year. I need to stay in my lane. At the end of the day, with all of the issues in college football and the pro game, the football nerd in me is already sketching out my plans for watching games on the first weekend. My third TV has been lonely.

16. What a day it was Saturday starting with the Keira Grace Foundation tournament at the Boz (that’s my nickname for the UF course). It was incredibly hot and humid (shocker!), but it was still a fun day playing my brother, Tim, as well as Les Lewis and Mike Martin. We did not win, either on the course or in the raffle. But it took me back to our own tournament, which we hope will be revived next year. And it’s a great cause that Tim and I were able to help with some prizes. Well done, Michael.

17. And then after a couple of hours of cooling down it was off to Spurrier’s for a special party honoring the retiring Tony Barnhart and Jerri Spurrier on her birthday. Steve announced that there will be a new “Sportswriters Hall of Fame” at the restaurant, which is really nice. I wonder if I can have veto power on candidates.

18. After a great weekend, it was nice to just relax by the pool and listen to this great playlist:

• “Heavy Metal Drummer” by Wilco.
• “moody” by Royel Otis.
• And for an old one, “The Kind of Girl I Could Love” by The Monkees.

WRUF.com sports columnist Pat Dooley can be heard on “The Tailgate” along with Jeff Cardozo from 4-6 p.m. Monday-Friday on 98.1-FM/AM-850 WRUF.