Downloadable 2024 Florida Gators football schedule

The 2024 college football season is almost here, which means it is time to get ready to root for your Florida Gators as they navigate a huge year for head coach Billy Napier. Most pundits believe that Napier is on the hot seat and this team has a chance to quiet the noise.

It all begins with what some analysts have dubbed the “Anxiety Bowl” between Napier and Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal. Neither can afford to start the year 0-1. The Canes come to the Swamp on Aug. 31 as one of three Power Four teams on the Florida schedule. That game is followed up by a tune-up against Samford before hosting the Texas A&M Aggies in the SEC opener on Sept. 14. The opening month of the season features the first road trip as the Gators look to give new Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby a rude welcome to the SEC.

October will have just one home game when the UCF Knights come to Gainesville on Oct. 5 after the open week for Florida. That is followed up with trips to Knoxville to face the Tennessee Volunteers and then off to Lexington to seek some retribution against the Kentucky Wildcats. The Gators will have a week off before the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” against the hated Georgia Bulldogs on Nov. 2.

The Gators will leave the Sunshine State just once in November when they travel to Austin to take on the newcomers, the Texas Longhorns on Nov. 9. Florida hasn’t played in Austin since the 1939 season. Napier in company will host the LSU Tigers and Ole Miss Rebels before the regular season finale against the Florida State Seminoles at the Doak. Perhaps they can play spoiler against the school Steve Spurrier once called “Free Shoes University.”