How will the Gators finish?

If you are a Florida football player, coach or administrator, stop reading right now. Do not go beyond this paragraph. You are in the one-day-at-time mode, which means you can't look beyond today's practice, beyond Saturday's game against Vanderbilt. So put the newspaper down.

While the Gators are forbidden to peek ahead (which is a good idea, actually), we are not. So, we're going to look ahead. Veteran football beat writer Robbie Andreu examines the four remaining games on the schedule and project what UF's record will be heading into the SEC Championship Game. Here's a clue: the Gators' four remaining opponents have a combined record of 14-20.

Toughest game remaining

This is an easy one — at South Carolina in two weeks. Yes, the Gamecocks are struggling to score points, but they have a stout defense, and quarterback Stephen Garcia is starting to play with some confidence. Steve Spurrier would love nothing better than to put the first blemish on the Gators' perfect season. UF will be facing a fired up (and athletic) USC team, and one very hostile crowd. The Gamecocks will come in confident they can pull the upset.

Prediction: The Gators will face some adversity and may have to come from behind in this game. But UF's defense will keep things steady, and Tim Tebow has had his way with the Gamecocks the past two seasons. This one could go down to the wire, but the Gators will leave Columbia with a victory.

Upset alert

The alarms are already going off about the Florida State game in the season finale. FSU's defense hasn't been able to stop anybody, but junior quarterback Christian Ponder has been playing lights out lately, and the Seminoles' potent passing game could present problems for a UF secondary that has been susceptible at times. If the Gators get too caught up in the emotion of bidding farewell to Tim Tebow, Brandon Spikes and others on Senior Day, they could get ambushed.

Prediction: This could turn into a wild one with lots of scoring. The difference is Florida's defense will get some stops (and turnovers), and the Gators will pull away in the second half.

Easiest remaining game

Florida International in The Swamp on Nov. 21. Do we really need to say anything more? Well, no.

Prediction: John Brantley will play more than Tim Tebow.

The flat vs. focus challenge

That would be Saturday's game against Vanderbilt. The Gators are coming off an emotional and impressive win over Georgia, while the 2-7 Commodores are coming off a loss to Georgia Tech in which they gave up 56 points at home. This has all the makings of a potential letdown game for Florida. If the Gators come out flat, Vandy's defense is good enough to turn this into an ugly, low-scoring game that will bring back some of the frustration that was building before the victory in Jacksonville. The Gators definitely don't want that.

Prediction: Instead of coming out flat, the Gators will be focused on trying to build on last week's strong performance against Georgia. UF has a chance to get on a late-season roll, and that is the Gators' focus.

Overall projection

The Gators will be 12-0 heading to Atlanta, where they will be in a play-in game for the BCS National Championship Game.