For the first time in recent memory, the University of Florida heads into a football season a decided underdog in eight of its twelve games. DraftKings places the over/under on win total for the Gators at a paltry 4.5. Pundits from Bristol, Conn. to Atlanta look ready to play a dirge for a season that hasn’t started yet. 

As a result, a palpable sense of worry flows through the fanbase. Cursed with an unbelievably tough schedule, the Gators, in the eyes of many, appear headed for a disastrous 2024 season. Yet, something feels different. No one told the football team that their season ended before it started. Ignore those folks and enjoy the games ahead. 

The Schedule

Make no mistake, Florida will play a brutal schedule against some of the SEC’s top teams. During the month of November, Florida plays Georgia, Texas, LSU, Ole Miss and Florida State. Not to mention, Tennessee and Texas A&M show up early in the season. 

On paper, all of these teams possess top-tier offenses, defenses, and coaching. Their rosters bubble over with blue-chip prospects and All-Americans. Correspondingly, NFL scouts representing all thirty-two franchises will attend these matchups. In a way, the schedule makers will end up helping the Gators more than anything else. 

The Hotseat

As profiled here and everywhere, Billy Napier needs a great showing to keep his job. He knows this, and fully understands the situation at hand. In all honesty, that fact should help the Gators. Napier comprehends the deal. In movie imagery, he will make his last stand in The Swamp. 

With pundits already choosing his successor via content, and those coaches looking at Zillow for homes in Alachua County, no play drawn looks unreasonable. With a job to lose, but a $32-million buyout, Napier can coach with a clear mind. The worst the school can do is fire him and pay an eight-figure buyout. No opponent will rattle Napier and his team. 

Upside

Florida enters the season with a seasoned quarterback, within a system he thrives. Graham Mertz fits the scheme. Only three of Florida’s opponents will return a starting quarterback. As a result, many will use this season as a way of grasping a system. 

Meanwhile, Mertz will head in to games with a feeling that his opponent will not. Moreover, six of Florida’s games occur in The Swamp. With 89,000 people, a majority clad in blue and orange, home-field becomes that much more important.

Opponent Expectations Burden

People continue to underdiscuss what Florida’s opponents will face. Georgia, Ole Miss, Florida State, TAMU, and Tennessee all have playoff expectations. Probability being what they are, a couple of those teams will lose multiple games. Under those circumstances, their fate changes from a certain home game to possibly playing on the road or potential omission from the process altogether. 

One of these opposing will exhibit some variation of posterior puckering, making bad decisions, leading to an upset by Florida. Since 1988, only three Gator seasons ended with five or fewer wins. Somehow, somewhere, probably multiple teams will fall. Plus, the karmic nature of college football dictates conference chaos.

LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – A candidate for Florida Senate this August is facing charges of grand theft in Orange County involving a homeowner’s association, with a trial scheduled to start in September.

Cheryl Blancett, 63, is facing charges that stem from a years-long investigation into the theft of nearly $48,000 from a homeowners association for a neighborhood in east Orange County. According to the arrest report, the officers for the Sawgrass Estates HOA hired Blancett to manage their subdivision from April 2018 to August 2019.

The investigators accuse Blancett of intermingling the HOA funds with her personal funds, using money for personal expenses and purchases that were not approved HOA expenses.

They believe Blancett ended up taking $47,22.34 from the HOA. She has pleaded not guilty.

[RESULTS 2024: Want to vote in Florida? Here’s how to register and make sure you are eligible]

Blancett is running to be the Republican candidate in the Florida Senate District 13 race, representing parts of Orange and Lake counties. She is on the ballot as “CJ” Blancett.

She faces businessman Bowen Kou and outgoing Florida House Rep. Keith Truenow in the Republican primary on Aug. 20. Kou is currently suing the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee for libel over a political mailer that questions whether he and his donors have any ties to the Chinese government (Kou is an American citizen). The mailer was sent out on Truenow’s behalf and cites his approval.

The winner of the Aug. 20 primary will face Democrat Stephanie Dukes in November.

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FLORIDA – A new law that just went into effect this week means state and federal law are the lay of the land – and counties and cities don’t get a say.

That’s at least when it comes to protections for people working outside.

More than 200 workers died in the United States from heat-related illness last year. It’s the leading weather-related cause of death for workers.

Under this new law, corporations can have their own rules about rest and water breaks, but cities and counties aren’t allowed to have their own regulations about those protections.

Florida has the highest population of temporary agricultural workers in the nation. We have the third-highest number of construction workers in America. Lots of people here work outdoors.

But a new law that just kicked into effect July 1st could mean fewer regulations for people who work outside.

HB 433 says cities and counties can no longer make their own rules when it comes to heat exposure requirements.

Adriana Rivera with the Florida Immigrant Coalition is worried the law could lead to more deaths.

“This law is so sad because it really puts at risk some of the most vulnerable workers that we have in our state,” Rivera.

Under the law, standards to control an employee’s heat or exposure to the sun could include things like mandatory water breaks, signage warning employees about heat exposure, and even “appropriate first-aid measures or emergency responses related to heat exposure.”

Local governments can’t regulate that.

They have to defer to state or federal law.

Representative Rick Roth co-authored the bill.

“We’ve never been in favor of local government regulating us if you’re already being regulated,” he said.

Rep. Roth says he’s been in the farming industry his whole life.

“I’m a little bit insulted that some government bureaucrat thinks they need to help me take care of my employees.”

But not everyone is comfortable leaving things up to corporations.

“Corporations do not care about us,” said Rivera.

Yesica Ramirez with the Farmworker Association of Florida agrees.

“Our hands are completely tied, our community already has many rights violations in this type of work,” said Ramirez

Something else happened this week too, though.

The Biden Administration just proposed a new rule that would require employers to mitigate heat hazards.

If it passes, it kicks in once the “feels like” temperature hits 80 degrees.

When the heat index reaches 90 degrees, employers would have to provide 15-minute paid rest periods every 2 hours.

The federal rule would also give an acclimation period for workers who aren’t used to working in the heat.

Whether it passes is still an “if” though.