Huge Gator fan here, watched every game this season.
1. They had a shot at playing Alabama for the national title if ND lost to USC because their strength of schedule was among the best in the country and they had 4 wins against top 12 teams. No one else had close to that. If they had beaten Georgia, they would have been in almost for sure. @stommped: UF lost to UGa on a neutral field in a close game. They play that game 10 times, it probably goes 5-5. It didn't factor into the voter's decisions much. This is what happens when you vote on champions instead of playing it out on the field.
2. Florida's defense was dominant. They might have been the best in the country. The offense just wasn't as good, and it showed in every game where the team played poorly. The offense constantly put the defense in bad spots and Muschamp got maddeningly conservative with the plays because it just seemed like our QB couldn't handle much else. I have confidence that side of the ball will improve next year with more reps.
3. They lost to Louisville because the Cardinals showed up to play and they didn't. That game was over in the first 10 minutes. Louisville had something to prove, were clearly pissed that everyone was basically comparing them to NIU and claiming they didn't even belong in a BCS game (which they arguably didn't even though they ended up winning. Same as the 7-9 Seahawks shouldn't have made the playoffs even though they won a game.) The Gators were let down by not playing for the championship and couldn't care less about that game. They played terribly. I stopped watching, it was so bad. I can live with a loss, but not a complete and utter lack of effort. Really pissed me off. I knew as it was happening that people were going to use that as a "lol overrated SEC" argument. The only people that think that are fans of teams in other conferences that can't think rationally. You don't accidentally win that many national titles in a row. It actually works against them now. If the voters could have found any way at all to put a team in over Alabama, you can be damn sure they would have.