The Florida Gators football team is coming off the school's third BCS National Championship in school history, and its second in the past three years.

Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Tim Tebow decided to return for his senior season and head coach Urban Meyer will be working with arguably the most talented roster in Florida football history.

Needless to say, expectations are at an all-time high in Gainesville. The Gators will be gunning for their third BCS Championship in four years, and the first undefeated season in school history.

Whether or not they accomplish that goal will be decided, in large part, by how the Gators hand the expectations and the hype that goes along with being the nation's consensus No. 1 team throughout the year, and how Florida replaces a few key pieces on offense.

Today, we continue with the second half of our SEC Preview series with the Florida Gators football team. To view all of our SEC Previews, simply follow the links below:

Alabama Crimson Tide Football Preview

Arkansas Razorbacks Football Preview

Auburn Tigers Football Preview

LSU Tigers Football Preview

Mississippi State Bulldogs Football Preview

Ole Miss Rebels Football Preview

Key Losses: WR Percy Harvin, WR Louis Murphy, OL Phil Trautwein, OL Jason Watkins, OL Jim Tartt

Returning Stars: QB Tim Tebow, TE Aaron Hernandez, OG Maurkice Pouncey, DE Carlos Dunlap, LB Brandon Spikes

Top Recruits: WR Andre Debose, DT Gary Brown, LB Jelani Jenkins, LB Jon Bostic, S Dee Finley

Weaknesses: If there's any real weakness on the Florida Gators roster heading into the 2009 position, it has to be on offense. The Gators return their top 22 players on the defensive side of the ball. However, the Gators did lose five key contributors from the offense, including superstar wide receiver Percy Harvin. In addition, they lost one of the more underrated wide receivers in the conference in Louis Murphy. Replacing those two will be a tall order, and the Gators didn't seem to come up with the answer during spring practice.

Finding a go-to wide receiver, or at least one or two guys who can be relied on on third down, will be imperative for a team that likes to spread the ball around. The offensive line also has some questions, after both starting tackles have moved on. The Gators also lose guard Jim Tartt, who was a starter prior to the 2008 season, but played sparingly due to injury last season. There are plenty of bodies inside to choose from, but experience up front is crucial in the SEC, and there could be some early miscues up front for the Gators.

Strengths: The strengths for the Florida Gators football team start and end with quarterback Tim Tebow. The two-time National Champion and Heisman winning quarterback elected to return for his senior season and attempt to complete the most remarkable run in modern college football history. Tebow simply gets the job done time and time again and the entire team feeds off his energy and emotion.

The Gators will benefit from having a trio of steady running backs in Jeff Demps, Chris Rainey and Emmanuel Moody. Aaron Hernandez provides the Gators with one of the best playmakers in the country at tight end, and the interior of the offensive line should be a very strong group. Defensively, the Gators boast one of the best units in the nation, and Florida is at least two deep at every position. The defense specializes in forcing turnovers and should be much improved at forcing teams off the field after three plays much more than they did a year ago.

Key Games: October 10th vs. LSU and October 31st vs. Georgia

With the talent and depth the Gators have amassed, these two teams pose the biggest threat to derailing the Gators' SEC and National Championship hosts. A tough trip to an always univiting Death Valley in Baton Rouge will be a good early test for the Gators. The Tigers will be looking to avenge an embarrassing 30 point loss to the Gators last year, and the Tigers have been very good at home against the Gators over the past five years.

The annual matchup with Georgia in Jacksonville will likely decide whether or not Georgia is a real player in the East. If the Bulldogs can pull out a win, they could very well win the SEC East. However, Florida might also have a chance to put the division on ice with a win in Jacksonville, taking out their only real competition in the East. The Bulldogs will have plenty of motivation to knock off the Gators after coming up on the wrong end of a 49-10 shellacking in 2008. Urban Meyer's timeouts at the end of the game will undoubtedly fuel the Georgia fire heading into the game.

Best/Worst Case: The best case scenario for the Gators is an undefeated season and a return to the SEC and National Championships. The Gators have arguably the best chance of repeating as National Champions as any team in the past decade. They also have a shot to be the first team to win back-to-back SEC Championships since Tennessee accomplished the feat in 1997 and 1998. Avoiding slips will be key for the Gators, who have lost two games in which they were heavily favored over the past two seasons.

The worst case scenario is probably a three loss season, losing to both LSU and Georgia and then slipping against a team that they should be favored against by a good bit. Even three losses seems almost unconceivable for a team that is getting as much hype and preseason accolades as any team in recent memory.

Share: