How Florida has Fared on ESPN College GameDay

The Florida Gators will not be the only ones traveling to Miami this Saturday. So will ESPN College GameDay. 

The Gators have made 42 appearances on GameDay since 1995, when the show travelled to Gainesville to cover the Florida vs. Florida State rivalry game. It marked Florida’s first of 26 wins with the TV program in attendance. Florida has now become the team with the third-most appearances and fourth-most wins in College GameDay history. 

In the three decades that the Gators have appeared on the show, they have amassed a 26-16 record. Alone, that’s good but not great. However, it is not necessarily a reflection of the team’s quality. 

GameDay typically centers around higher stakes games. For example, Florida’s 1996 appearance was not only another rivalry game against Florida State but also the Sugar Bowl. Similarly, for their most recent appearance in 2022 against Tennessee, the Gators were No. 20, while Tennessee was No. 11. 

To that point, when College GameDay selects a game, the competition tends to be tougher. The fact that the Gators have a winning record shows they are able to perform under the spotlight’s pressure.

But Miami is similarly situated. Although it has only appeared on GameDay 25 times compared to Florida’s 42, it has a record of 16-9, which is only a slightly higher clip than Florida. However, in such a high-pressure game, any advantage is an advantage. 

So this week, College GameDay will travel down to Coral Gables for the matchup between the Gators and the Hurricanes. The stakes could not be higher. 

After a devastating loss in The Swamp last season, coach Billy Napier’s Florida team is under not only the GameDay spotlight but a national microscope as well. Miami is currently 3-0 coming off a win against the previously unranked USF, who climbed to No. 18 after defeating the Gators in Gainesville. The Gators are fresh off their second loss of the season against LSU and looking for any opportunity to turn their season around as the losses are starting to stack up.

 Loading ...

Category: College Football, Gators Football, Miami Hurricanes