Fact of Fiction: Florida has closed the gap with Alabama
National recruiting director Mike Farrell and national recruiting analyst Adam Gorney tackle three topics daily and determine whether they believe the statements or not.
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1. Florida has closed the gap with Alabama.
Farrell’s take: FICTION. I love the way Florida played against Alabama and the Gators' offense is impressive but they still can’t run the ball and they won’t reload like the Crimson Tide will. Mac Jones is gone? Bryce Young steps in. And there are five-stars waiting to replace running backs, wide receivers and offensive linemen. Offense is the key and Alabama can’t be stopped while Florida might always have a weakness here or there.
Gorney’s take: FACT. What impressed me the most in the SEC championship game was Florida’s resilience and ability to keep fighting back against what is clearly the best team in the country with weapons at every position. Dan Mullen is one of the best coaches in the country, skill players will want to play for him and Mullen’s system works even better with a mobile quarterback even though the Gators’ offense was lethal with Kyle Trask as well. Florida is clearly the best team in the state right now so recruiting should go well. I have no idea if Florida will beat Alabama routinely as long as Nick Saban coaches the Crimson Tide but the Gators had a phenomenal showing on Saturday night.
2. Oklahoma should get more love for the season they had.
Farrell’s take: FACT. Oklahoma became one of the top teams in college football by the end of the season and the Sooners' defense played very well. The early losses killed them but I’m happier with this team than I am with the offense-heavy OU teams that got beat in the playoff. More balance is coming to the Sooners.
Gorney’s take: FACT. This is a team that got better and better as the season went on and I would not want to play them in the playoff although getting them in the top four looks impossible at this point. It would not have been if the Sooners didn’t lose to Kansas State, which looks unfathomable at this point. The offense still has serious firepower and when they got in a little bit of a field position battle against Iowa State on Saturday, Oklahoma had faith in relying on its defense, which is something that could not be said in previous years.
3. Ohio State deserves their playoff seed.
Farrell’s take: FICTION. I just can’t say yes since Ohio State played only six games and struggled with Northwestern in the title game. This isn’t the dominant Ohio State team of the past and I think they get beat. Justin Fields just looks uncomfortable when he doesn’t have a billion weapons.
Gorney’s take: FACT. This situation could be argued a million ways. Like, why is Texas A&M not more deserving since its only loss is to the No. 1 team in the country back in October and since then the Aggies have beaten Florida and then six other SEC opponents by double-digits. Or why is Cincinnati not getting any respect at all? But I guess it comes down to this: Ohio State has not lost despite only playing six games and do we seriously believe any of its opponents would have beaten the Buckeyes if they played an entire schedule? I completely understand the arguments against Ohio State but this is still one of the best four teams in the country.