2008 Florida Gators football team

The 2008 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida in the college football season of 2008. The team was coached by Urban Meyer and played their home games in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. They finished the season ranked the #1 team in the AP Poll and the Coaches' Poll. After clinching the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division, the team defeated the then-#1-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide 31–20 in the 2008 SEC Championship Game to win the SEC title. The Gators closed their season in the 2009 BCS National Championship Game, where they defeated the Oklahoma Sooners for the BCS National Championship with a score of 24-14.

Previous season

Entering the season as defending national champions, the Gators went 9-4 in the 2007 season in spite of a prolific offense, primarily due to a defense depleted by graduation and departures to the NFL leading to the worst defense for a Florida team since 1971, closing out the year with a 41-35 loss to Michigan in the 2008 Capital One Bowl on January 1. Quarterback Tim Tebow became the first sophomore to win the Heisman trophy.

In the offseason, Florida coach Urban Meyer suffered the loss of assistant coaches for the first time in his tenure. Co-recruiting coordinator and safeties coach Doc Holliday left to become an assistant at his alma mater, West Virginia, running backs coach Stan Drayton took the same job with the Tennessee Volunteers, and co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach Greg......
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