Jim McElwain picked an opportune time to join the SEC, notably the Eastern Division.

Before anyone writes off the Gators this season, take into account what Florida must do to finish in the top half of the conference with a respectable bowl invite:

  • Beat Kentucky, which the Gators have done 28 consecutive times
  • Take out preseason paper champion Tennessee for the 11th consecutive year
  • Win 1 out of 4 games against ranked SEC teams (vs. Ole Miss, at Mizzou, at LSU, vs. Georgia)
  • Close the league slate with wins over Vanderbilt and South Carolina (5Dimes has those two struggling)

When you break it down into sections, a respectable finish in McElwain’s first campaign doesn’t sound so challenging, does it?

That’s all it takes to finish 5-3, likely good enough for a third-place finish in the East and the sixth slot in the league standings overall. If the Gators won three out of four non-conference matchups, that’s eight victories with a chance at nine in Tampa, Jacksonville or Nashville.

All hope is not lost for a team thin on offensive experience in a division void of respected teams.

Outside of talent supreme preseason favorite Georgia whose cross-divisional matchups are treacherous in their own right, the pickings are slim at the top. Two-time defending champion Mizzou may possess the SEC’s most favorable schedule, but the Tigers haven’t received much love in preseason polls after losing defensive standouts Shane Ray and Markus Golden.

Tennessee’s coming off a 7-6 season, its best record in five years, but has lingering depth concerns — specifically up front and at wide receiver (much like the Gators). Most project the Vols’ breakout campaign to come in 2016 when there’s some established second-teamers behind an ultra-talented starting 22.

That leaves the Gamecocks, Wildcats and Commodores — who face their own myriad of problems heading into the season — to fight with Florida for the middle of the pack, perhaps the No. 3 slot in the division with a couple breaks.

Much like the Gators’ surprising demise during the 2013 season which led to Will Muschamp’s firing last fall, a lot will depend on Florida’s overall health this fall with a roster that only goes two players deep at most positions. McElwain said in March his team’s ‘really insufficient’ in some areas, but won’t use that as a crutch and has explicitly referred to his team taking a ‘playing the cards we’re dealt’ mentality.

The Gators expect to be in the mix for an East championship and considering the navigable journey to get there in a down division, stranger things have happened.