Gators’ cupcake diet

Before the voters overwhelmingly picked Florida as their preseason No. 1 football team, they should have examined its schedule.

Florida doesn’t have to play Alabama, Auburn or Mississippi, but does get to play Charleston Southern, Troy and Florida International. Unlike the Pac-10, the SEC is allowed to avoid certain conference teams every season.

Lately, the only teams to beat USC during the regular season have been Pac-10 teams (Cal, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA), which makes you wonder how many national championships the Trojans might have won had they followed the SEC’s lead and skipped these opponents.

Florida may be good, but any team that ducks its own conference in order to play nonconference cupcakes shouldn’t be voted No. 1. While Florida is playing Charleston Southern, USC must travel to Columbus, Ohio, to meet sixth-rated Ohio State.

Now that’s a challenging schedule.

David Macaray

Rowland Heights

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