What’s not to love about supreme optimism?

It’s the best time of the year for college football fans, especially those favoring the SEC. Dreams of a national championship aren’t yet crushed and homers abound can all take a stab at guessing wins and losses on their respective team’s schedule.

‘Best Case Scenario’ Series

FLORIDA GATORS

2013 record: 4-8, 3-5
2014 best case: 12-2, 7-1
Closer look: Can the Gators win the SEC Championship this season? Auburn climbed from worst to first last fall and the Tigers weren’t even able to use injuries as a justifiable excuse for past failures. Back at full strength, the Gators will be much improved, especially on offense with a much-needed philosophy switch under Kurt Roper. Jeff Driskel’s play will ultimately determine Florida’s ceiling. On defense, the Gators will be stout once again, anchored by one of the game’s top cover corners Vernon Hargreaves. Best case? Florida goes 11-1 in the regular season, beats Alabama in Atlanta and then falters as the second-highest seed in the College Football Playoff. Gator fans can dream, right?
Silver lining: Can we forget Georgia Southern ever happened? The stars aligned last November in Gainesville and the Gators, forced to burn Skyler Mornhinweg’s redshirt two weeks prior and plagued by misfortune, performed like a squad that had already given up on the season. Florida’s simply too talented to endure another eight-loss campaign, but if it happens, many of us — including Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley — will have grossly overestimated Will Muschamp’s value as a head coach.