Lower expectations for the Florida Gators football team this year? Evidently that’s not the case. According to the USA Today Top 25 coaches preseason poll, the Gators will open the 2010 college football season exactly where they finished – ranked #3 in the nation.

Due to the fact that Florida lost several great players to the draft, many analysts and scouts expect UF to have somewhat of a reloading season this year. In order to live up to their #3 position, Florida’s underclassmen must step up. Meyer will have to find players that can fill the void of Tim Tebow, Joe Haden, Maurkice Pouncey, Aaron Hernandez, Carlos Dunlap and Brandon Spikes. There are a lot of talented players on the squad to choose from but, the players lack experience which could cause trouble down the road – especially when the Gators face the defending champions on October 2. Since the players are unproven, UF is definitely not worthy of such a high ranking. If the voters based their votes on each teams’ potential, then Florida is very much worthy of their position. Urban Meyer has done nothing but attracted top talent. Year after year Meyer and the Gators have had one of the top recruiting classes in the nation.

The coaches’ poll makes up one-third of the Bowl Championship Series calculation. The talent is there, no doubt. The problem is, the players are totally unproven. With that said, for the orange and blue, a No. 3 ranking is very surprising. This just goes to show how much respect the coaches have for Urban Meyer and the Florida Gator football organization.