Dan Mullen both made a bold statement and began to set the foundation Thursday for his Florida team's inclusion in the College Football Playoffs.
The Gators face top-ranked Alabama Saturday inside Atlanta's Mercedes Stadium with an SEC Championship on the line.
Perhaps one element of Mullen's comment was Mullen indulging a reporter's question for a hypothetical scenario; regardless, Mullen during a Zoom press conference said the Gators would focus on their CFP-worthiness after taking down the unbeaten Tide.
“We'll think about that on Saturday night after we win,” Mullen said when asked if Florida should be included as playoff participant a two-loss team. “I think LSU made it when there were only two teams with two losses, if I'm not mistaken (in 2007). Does that sound about right?
“It was back in one of those years with the BCS. I thought they had two losses. Maybe I'm off on that one. Let's see. We'll worry about winning on Saturday night because that's all we can control. What happens after that, we'll see what happens next.”
Florida was seen as a potential shoe-in CFP team if it had taken care of LSU at home last weekend and could manage to upset Alabama, which is more than a two-touchdown favorite in the SEC title game, on Saturday.
Instead, the Gators lost 37-34 to LSU when Florida's game-tying field goal attempt sailed wide as time expired.
Mullen believes an 11-game, all-SEC schedule should result in the SEC Champion being one of the four playoff teams.
“It would be hard to say that the SEC champion doesn't (belong),” Mullen said. “I mean, this is our third top-10 game of the year. This is Alabama's third top-10 game of the year off current rankings.
“I don't know other people that are on game number three of top-10 teams in other leagues. I guess it would be hard to say. Again, I'm not on the committee. That would be a question for them.”
If Mullen and the Gators find a way to upend the Tide, they'll get their answer Sunday when the CFP reveals its four teams.