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JD PicKell: Predicting every game on Florida's 2022 schedule

Nikki Chavanelleby:Nikki Chavanelle•08/18/22•

NikkiChavanelle

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(Photo courtesy of David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

First-year Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier is facing mixed expectations for year one in Gainesville. Although the team isn’t in the preseason AP top 25 or the coaches’ poll or even ESPN’s power rankings, it still received some votes. That means there are people who believe it won’t take long for Napier to get the Gators in shape after a 2-6 finish in conference play last year.

On3 analyst JD PicKell breaks down how he believes the Florida Gators’ 2022 season could play out on The Hard Count.

Here are PicKell’s full predictions for the Gators’ schedule:

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PicKell’s Florida Picks

Week 1, Sept. 3 vs Utah: Loss
Week 2, Sept. 10 vs Kentucky: Win
Week 3, Sept. 17 vs South Florida: Win
Week 4, Sept. 24 at Tennessee: Win
Week 5, Oct. 1 vs Eastern Washington: Win
Week 6, Oct. 8 vs Missouri: Win
Week 7, Oct. 15 vs LSU: Win
Bye Week
Week 9, Oct. 29 vs Georgia (Jacksonville): Loss
Week 10, Nov. 5 at Texas A&M: Win
Week 11, Nov. 12 vs South Carolina: Loss
Week 12, Nov. 19 at Vanderbilt: Win
Week 13, Nov. 25 at Florida State: Win

PicKell’s predictions for Florida give the Gators a 9-3 finish with top-25 wins over Kentucky and Texas A&M. Compared to the ESPN FPI chances, the On3 analyst has Napier beating the odds versus Tennessee, LSU, Texas A&M and Florida State. However, he predicts they’ll lose to South Carolina, despite playing at home with a 69.9% chance to win.

Napier has a lot of talented pieces to work with in 2022. Anthony Richardson has solidified his role as starting QB this fall after explosive appearances last season. He’ll have access to other pieces from 2021 as well, like linebackers Ventrell Miller and Brenton Cox Jr., as well as DE Gervon Dexter and DB  Trey Dean III, that were just a handful of close finishes away from having a much different record last year.