Fact or Fiction: Florida will take biggest step back in SEC next season
In today’s Fact or Fiction, national columnist Mike Farrell looks at three big recent topics in college football and decides whether each statement is indeed FACT or if it’s FICTION.
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1. Florida will take the biggest step back in the SEC next season.
Farrell’s take: FACT
My opinion is that the Gators lose so much on offense and have some questions on defense with coordinator Todd Grantham coming back, so it could be a transitional year for Dan Mullen. I went to the Talk of Champions message board at BamaInsider.com to see what the fans of the returning national champs feel and the answer was Florida as well, with UGA, Auburn and Tennessee also being mentioned. It’s going to be a challenging year for the Gators.
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2. Bijan Robinson will be the best running back in the Big 12 next season.
Farrell’s take: FICTION
My thinking is that Iowa State's Breece Hall is still the top back in the Big 12, with Robinson following and then Kennedy Brooks at Oklahoma State, Deuce Vaughn at Kansas State and Leddie Brown from West Virginia.
But I asked around and there’s no point asking the fans over at Orangebloods.com or CycloneReport.com, right? So I went to SoonerScoop.com, our Oklahoma site, and hit The Crimson Corner message board for their fans' takes. It was interesting. The majority said Hall at start of season but Robinson by end of season. And they said don’t forget not only Brooks but incoming transfer Eric Gray.
Breece Hall is still the man.
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3. USC loses the most wide receiver talent in the country heading into next season.
Farrell’s take: FICTION. USC loses Tyler Vaughns and Amon-Ra St. Brown, and that’s 400 career receptions and more than 5,000 yards. That’s no joke. But with Drake London, Gary Bryant and Bru McCoy coming back, Ryan Young at TrojanSports.com and myself agree that the Trojans will be just fine.
The answer here is Florida, which loses Kyle Pitts, Kadarius Toney and Trevon Grimes, and we saw how that played out in the Cotton Bowl loss to Oklahoma. The Gators will need more receivers to step up than anyone else, and that includes Alabama, even though it loses DeVonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle.