It’s been nearly five years since an undefeated No. 1 ranked Florida Gators team led by Tim Tebow suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 2009 SEC Championship game.

That was one of the last times the Gators were on top of the college football world, a place many believed they would frequent after two national titles and a Heisman Trophy winner between 2006-08 led by one of the best coaches in college football.

But now five years later, the Gators are facing the question of whether this program’s best days are behind them.

The numbers would say they are.

Florida Gators since 2010

  • Overall record: 33-24
  • Record vs. ranked teams: 4-17 (All four wins came in 2012)
  • Conference record: 19-18
  • Home record: 20-10

This year is particularly disappointing for Florida fans. There’s no injury excuse to lean on this season like in 2013. No, this team just isn’t good on many levels. Whether it’s the quarterback or the entire offense, the coaching staff or the defensive miscues, there are deficiencies everywhere.

More than likely, this will be Will Muschamp’s last season at Florida. Barring a miraculous turnaround, Muschamp simply wasn’t able to put a consistent product out on the field, despite achieving three top-10 recruiting classes.

RELATED: Dead man walking: Will Muschamp’s time at Florida needs to end

Right now, recruits can still look back at the national titles in 2006 and 2008 and envision this Gators program returning to its championship form, but Florida is teetering on the edge of the cliff. Another couple seasons like fans and recruits have seen over the past two years, and they’re looking at nearly a decade of an average football from a program that was destined for a dynasty back in 2008.

At some point, the novelty wears off and you are what your record says you are. And Florida’s record proves the program is heading in a downward trend.

Of course, that’s not to say it can’t be turned around. The biggest factor in that will be the Gators’ next hire if it does reach that point. Coaching hires — or lack thereof — can make all the difference and the Gators wouldn’t be the first top program to fall victim to irrelevancy.

Look at Texas. The Longhorns were a perennial powerhouse and had a BCS Championship appearance in the 2009 season, just four seasons after winning the national title. But as the program started slipping, the program’s reluctancy to let go of Mack Brown cost them and the Longhorns have lost at least four conference games in every season since 2010.

The Tennessee Volunteers, a program to be reckoned with in the 90s and early 2000s, is fighting just be relevant within the conference. Once Phillip Fulmer left, the Vols’ hiring of Lane Kiffin and subsequent hiring of Derek Dooley just a year later set the program back several years. Now, Butch Jones is left picking up the pieces and is just now seeing some positive results in his second season.

For the Gators, they are at a crossroads. The decision by Urban Meyer to un-retire and come back in 2010, ultimately was a poor choice in hindsight. The lack of heart and care he put into that season left the cupboard bare for Muschamp when he came in.

And despite a hopeful 2012 season, Muschamp will probably leave this program in a very similar situation in terms of on-field success — middle of the road and off the college football radar. So where will this program go?

If you described to Florida fans after that 2009 SEC Championship loss what the state of the program would be just five years later, they would have described it as mere fiction.

But sadly, for those fans, the stark truth of how far this program has fallen and the direction in which its headed is becoming more and more of a reality with every passing week.