It is an interesting first game for both the Gators and the Wolverines. Michigan's defense will have 11 new starters but if Florida's offense isn't any better than it was last year that really shouldn't matter much.
Both teams will have a lot of new starters and this is a game that could be crucial depending on how things go down the road. So far in the playoff era a single loss hasn't been decisive for any P5 team so long as that loss did not prevent them from winning an undisputed league title. However, no 2-loss team has made the playoffs. Thus, the loser of the UF/M game has literally zero margin for error.
If Michigan wins the Flordia game, avoids upsets, and goes 2-1 through their other toughest games of @PSU, @UW, vtOSU then they should be a playoff contender but if they lose the Florida game then they would probably have to go undefeated the rest of the way.
The other thing that makes this interesting is that the winning team could end up sputtering and that would look really bad for the winner. It isn't impossible to imagine the UF/M winner going 7-5 while the loser goes 10-2. That would look really bad for the losing team's conference.
On the subject of Florida I really don't know what to expect. They have an odd schedule. They have a ton of tough looking opponents but almost all are at home and none are true road games. Florida's schedule:
- 7 home games (No. Colorado, UT, Vandy, LSU, aTm, UAB, FSU)
- 2 neutral games (Michigan in Dallas, Georgia in Jacksonville WLOCP)
- 3 road games (UK, Mizzou, USCe)
It is a tough schedule but at the same time that is probably the easiest road slate of any P5 team in the country.