Gators back to being underrated: Is it a good or a bad thing?

[DRU2012]

No doubt about it: whatever the reasons, deserved or not, they've happily returned to slagging us "out there". Yeah, we've had a couple of poor (for us) seasons, but the experts and pollsters were awful quick to "put us back in our place". Hence the above question. It's really two different but related questions, though: Does it irritate or encourage you? Can it help us or hurt us?
Myself, while it does at times irritate me in specific instances, in the bigger picture, I figure teams taking us at all lightly is an advantage, a notion we will gladly disabuse them of. All the "experts" telling the world that we are some further deteriorated version of that team from last season are doing us a favor, setting at least our early-SEC opponents up for getting beaten before they even realize that it's happening. As the season moves along and we sharpen up as a team, it'll be less of a surprise, but hopefully we won't need that edge so much anymore...Meanwhile, though, we'll play every angle we can.
What do Y'ALL think?

 

[Leakfan12]

I think it's good especially since the SEC east is winable and they have a shot at the SEC title game (winning that game is a different story against LSU or Bama or maybe Ark can crash the party [yes I went there]).

 

[totenkopf13]

Underrated. It's great when they are better than expected and sucks when they don't at least meet expectations I need only think of the John Brantley years for the later.

 

[Ken2k]

No doubt about it: whatever the reasons, deserved or not, they've happily returned to slagging us "out there". Yeah, we've had a couple of poor (for us) seasons, but the experts and pollsters were awful quick to "put us back in our place". Hence the above question. It's really two different but related questions, though: Does it irritate or encourage you? Can it help us or hurt us?
Myself, while it does at times irritate me in specific instances, in the bigger picture, I figure teams taking us at all lightly is an advantage, a notion we will gladly disabuse them of. All the "experts" telling the world that we are some further deteriorated version of that team from last season are doing us a favor, setting at least our early-SEC opponents up for getting beaten before they even realize that it's happening. As the season moves along and we sharpen up as a team, it'll be less of a surprise, but hopefully we won't need that edge so much anymore...Meanwhile, though, we'll play every angle we can.
What do Y'ALL think?

 

[DRU2012]

Ken2k
Your actual reply seems to have been cut off somehow...try again?

So far, like me, other Gators seem to like the idea of being underrated--it has its practical value, we don't have a target on our backs as we did for 2 or 3 years there, and it will be fun to see them all "stunned in defeat" when it happens.
However, it was also great (if at times nerve-wracking) to be "The Big Dog" there for a couple of years, being the favorite in the face of all that hostility and making it stick. As I mentioned above, then, I do get sick of how eagerly they run us down now. Even as I sort of enjoy us hunkering down together with a collective chip on our shoulders, muttering to ourselves and each other, "Just wait...", another part of me resents their blind ignorance and contempt. It has had me making some sharp responses at wider public sites like ESPN, etc., when I know how much more satisfying it'll be to show them on-the-field.
In other words, it shouldn't bother me, but it does...

 

[Ken2k]

No doubt about it: whatever the reasons, deserved or not, they've happily returned to slagging us "out there". Yeah, we've had a couple of poor (for us) seasons, but the experts and pollsters were awful quick to "put us back in our place". Hence the above question. It's really two different but related questions, though: Does it irritate or encourage you? Can it help us or hurt us?
Myself, while it does at times irritate me in specific instances, in the bigger picture, I figure teams taking us at all lightly is an advantage, a notion we will gladly disabuse them of. All the "experts" telling the world that we are some further deteriorated version of that team from last season are doing us a favor, setting at least our early-SEC opponents up for getting beaten before they even realize that it's happening. As the season moves along and we sharpen up as a team, it'll be less of a surprise, but hopefully we won't need that edge so much anymore...Meanwhile, though, we'll play every angle we can.
What do Y'ALL think?

 

[Ken2k]

I like being underated this time around.Opponents dont know what's about to hit em

 

[Escambia94]

Look at our sisters in Tallahassee--two years of being overrated is going to accelerate Jimbo's hot seat. Muschamp needs to lay low and stick to under rated teams that over achieve. If the 2012 team can climb from #25 to, say, #18, that is better than FSU or UGA falling from top 10 to #17.

 

[DRU2012]

I like being underated this time around.Opponents dont know what's about to hit em

Exactly my thinking.
E-'s point is also well-taken, though: There are Gators who let "public expectation" and their own short-sighted impatience cloud the big picture. They need to appreciate the large strides we are taking, rather than whining about "Why aren't we there yet?" To them I say, "Enjoy the 2 or 3 big wins we go into as underdogs this year...We're not quite a Championship team yet, though, and we won't go undefeated." Now, in the next year or two, that is exactly what our Head Coach and his staff are building towards--to get there and stay there, make no mistake.

 

[Escambia94]

Also keep in mind how the rest of the conference has improved over years past. FSU, South Carolina, Missouri, Texas A & M, and Georgia have all been recruiting well, just as good or better than Florida. That means Florida needs to have better coaching, players with better attitudes, and some humility compared to years past.

The recruiting rankings compared to the aforementioned teams helps keep Florida under rated. Last year's 7-6, 3-5 record does not instill confidence in the polls as to Muschamp's abilities. I even had my doubts when he went ballistic in a couple games. I think the trio of Muschamp, Pease, and Quinn will work better than it did with the trio of Weis.

I think Florida will finish around 18 to 24, with some ups and downs. The aTm game will tell us a lot early on.

 

[DRU2012]

(Know you didn't mean to imply FSU as SEC-team, only that the same applies to them as our SEC-opponents as far as improvement, etc.) I happen to believe that it is the quality of character you refer to that will make the difference for us: It's not just the overall talent of our recruits--which is every bit as good as anyone's now, and will continue at that high level--but the way Coach M and his staff are building with parts that fit well together. The standard being set, this idea of "The Florida Way", is more than just words: It is the key to what's different at UF, of where we're headed as a program and why we'll be a force to be reckoned with for sometime, once we get there. From the Head Coach to the graduate Assistants, the All-Americans to the walk-ons, there'll be balance, determination and dedication to the job at hand. That's what'll make this a TEAM that's hard to beat.
(Btw, "aTm game"...lol--got it and liked it!)

 

[Escambia94]

(Know you didn't mean to imply FSU as SEC-team, only that the same applies to them as our SEC-opponents as far as improvement, etc.) I happen to believe that it is the quality of character you refer to that will make the difference for us: It's not just the overall talent of our recruits--which is every bit as good as anyone's now, and will continue at that high level--but the way Coach M and his staff are building with parts that fit well together. The standard being set, this idea of "The Florida Way", is more than just words: It is the key to what's different at UF, of where we're headed as a program and why we'll be a force to be reckoned with for sometime, once we get there. From the Head Coach to the graduate Assistants, the All-Americans to the walk-ons, there'll be balance, determination and dedication to the job at hand. That's what'll make this a TEAM that's hard to beat.
(Btw, "aTm game"...lol--got it and liked it!)

I meant that the rest of the SEC is much better now than it was in the 90s and 00s. Throw in the fact that these same SEC teams, and our in state rival have closed the gap. In Spurrier's day, all the best recruits in the Southeast flocked to a burgeoning Florida school--Miami, Florida, or FSU. Now there is parity throughout the Southeast, so the main discriminators are the coaches, the facilities, and NFL connections. All of that takes time and money that now most schools have, or can get soon.