Fox Sports: UM-Florida ‘must-watch’ nonconference game

The last time Michigan faced Florida, it wasn’t much of a game. The Wolverines rolled to a 41-7 victory in the 2016 Citrus Bowl.

The rematch figures to be much closer.

Michigan and Florida square off Sept. 2 in the Advocare Classic at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, in a showdown Fox Sports on Tuesday billed as one of 11 “must-watch” nonconference games of the college football season.

The game checks in at No. 7 in Fox Sports’ rankings.

Both teams likely will be ranked when they hit the field — Sports Illusrated ranked Michigan 12th and Florida 24th in its post-spring rankings — and the game will boast two teams “that have a lot of questions,” writes Aaron Torres of Fox Sports.

“Jim Harbaugh’s club has won 10 games two years in a row,” Torres writes, “but has questions in virtually every position group after losing 18 starters from last year’s team. Meanwhile, Florida has won two straight SEC East titles, but that was thanks almost exclusively to: 1) (former coach Will) Muschamp’s recruits, and 2) its defense, which lost seven players to the NFL Draft.”

Two of those players landed with the Detroit Lions: Linebacker Jarrad Davis and cornerback Teez Tabor.

“So who will prevail,” Torres asks. “A young Michigan team? Or a Florida club desperately searching for balance on both sides of the ball?”

College football fans won’t have to wait long to find out.

The Sept. 2 clash between Florida State and Alabama in Atlanta tops the list. Ohio State’s home game Sept. 9 against Oklahoma is No. 2.