COLLEGE

What a victory will mean to Florida and Florida State

New Year's Day bowls at stake, in addition to bragging rights

Garry Smits
Dalvin Cook, left, and Kelvin Taylor are seen.

There are numerous implications surrounding the Florida-Florida State game this season, some as lofty as a possible berth for the Gators in the College Football Playoff, a spot in other CFP bowls for both teams, 10-victory seasons, top-10 rankings and the old standby: bragging rights.

No. 10-ranked Florida (10-2) plays No. 14 FSU (9-2) at 7:30 p.m. in The Swamp in Gainesville, on ESPN. Those rankings are by the Associated Press. The Gators are 12th in the College Football Playoff rankings and the Seminoles are 13th.

Here is winning the game will mean to each team:

IF THE GATORS WIN

¦ Florida will win 11 games for the first time since the 2012 season and for only the second time in six seasons.

¦ The Gators will snap a two-game FSU winning streak in the rivalry and will beat the Seminoles in The Swamp for the first time since 2009 when Tim Tebow was the quarterback.

¦ UF will keep alive its chances for making the four-team CFP playoff. The Gators would have to beat either Alabama or Ole Miss in the SEC championship game next week in Atlanta for that to happen. A loss to FSU and a loss in the SEC title game would probably knock the Gators to the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl in Orlando. A victory in the SEC title game, regardless of the outcome to FSU, would likely put Florida in the Sugar Bowl.

¦ Florida would beat its three primary rivals, FSU, Georgia and Tennessee, in the same season for the first time since 2009. Coach Jim McElwain also would join Urban Meyer (2005) and Galen Hall in 1984 as the UF coaches to beat those teams in the same season in his first year.

IF THE SEMINOLES WIN

¦ FSU will win 10 games for the fifth time in six years under coach Jimbo Fisher and for the 23rd time since Bobby Bowden became the coach in 1976.

¦ The Seminoles would beat the Gators five of the last six years and three years in a row. The last three-game winning streak against UF was 1998-2000.

¦ FSU would win the "State Championship," a sweep of Florida and Miami, for the third season in a row.

¦ FSU could jump from 14th to within the top-12 on the CFP rankings. If the 'Noles stayed there after next week's conference championship games, they would play in one of the CFP "New Year's Six Bowls," likely the Peach Bowl. A loss to the Gators sends FSU to either the Russell Athletic Bowl in Orlando, or to the pool of bowls with ACC affiliations, with the conference deciding their destination. That would be either the TaxSlayer Bowl in Jacksonville, the Music City Bowl in Nashville or the Belk Bowl in Charlotte.

Garry Smits: (904) 359-4362