In the midst of a Southeastern Conference slate described as “brutal” by coaches and players, Florida will take a trip west for an nonconference match tonight.
This match, however, isn’t against just anyone. It’s against No. 1 Southern California, the three-time defending national champions.
While the Trojans (17-0) will put their 37-match home win streak on the line against Florida, the Gators will travel nearly 2,500 miles for their biggest challenge of the year. The timing of the match is the product of scheduling. The Gators scheduled a home-and-home against the Trojans and hosted them at Linder Stadium last spring, losing 4-3.
This year, the Gators are forced to travel across the country. Coach Andy Jackson said that while the logistics of the match aren’t ideal, it is a nice compromise for not having to travel last season.
“I’m basically against going to the West Coast,” Jackson said. “I’m against going to L.A. because I think it’s a lot of work for one match. But I really like the coach. I think that they have a great team, and they were willing to come here first.”
The trip comes with Florida sitting at 2-2 in SEC play, although both losses were 4-3 affairs.
Instead, the Gators will face the Trojans, whose closest match this season was a 4-3 win against No. 2 Ohio State.
Despite its No. 10 ranking, Florida sees the match against USC as an opportunity to gain some major confidence. Junior Bob van Overbeek even likened it to a college basketball team “building their tournament resume.”
Jackson, however, is looking at the match as a realist. After losing close to Kentucky, UF would probably prefer working at home this week.
“It’s not like I said, ‘It’s going to be great for us to go to back to L.A. when we’ve lost a tough one to Kentucky, and instead of taking a week off, let’s go kill ourselves in L.A.,’” he said. “Right now, I don’t really feel like [the scheduling has] worked out well, but that’s because of hindsight. Every decision looks bad if you lose.”
