Gators' first game is Labor day weekend, Sept 5th against Eastern Washington.
Revenue from football is the cash cow which funds all of college athletics. NCAA smart enough to level the playing field and to help make up for the loss of Spring Practice & help get players in football shape to reduce injuries.
IMO, all teams will be adequately prepared for the start of the season - "missing practice time" will not give UF an edge over UGA or any other team and there will not be an asterisk for this year's National Title.
"...The NCAA’s Football Oversight Committee has prepared a four-phase plan for the season that includes a six-week period of mandatory workouts that include walk-throughs in July and preseason camp beginning in early August
Teams with seasons starting Labor Day Weekend can begin working with their players in person as early as July 13, at least 25 days before the first permissible preseason practice date"
247sports.com/college/florida/Article/NCAA-set-to-approve-6-week-calendar-for-ramp-up-to-college-football-season-147982508/
I doubt that this is the final format, more changes sure to follow, but this seems to assure us that we will have a competitive football season.
"...First off the numbers. The NCAA is allowing plenty of time to get a lot of the mental reps in and workouts so that the players can be physically ready to compete in the fall. Athletes were allowed to return to campus on June 1 and at Florida and the SEC they could start weight room workouts on June 8. New freshmen are due in on July 1 and in mid-July they all start mandatory workouts and then they don’t really get on the football field until July 24.
- Voluntary workouts: June 1-25 (virtual instruction 8 hours per week)
- Mandatory workouts: July 13, 25 days before first permissible preseason practice date
- Walk-throughs and meetings: July 24, 14 days before first preseason practice date (8 hours weight training, 6 hours walk-through with football, 6 hours for meetings)
- Preseason practices: Aug. 7, 29 days before first game (20 hours per week)
That is two weeks earlier than normal for anyone that plays the first game on the weekend of Sept. 5. The real difference in this first date is that teams are only allowed on-field practice with a football for six hours in each of the two weeks. That’s about three practices in each week or six total."
https://247sports.com/college/flori...-the-most-by-missing-practice-time-147997501/