BD would dial back the schedule toughness periodically if he knew his freshmen would struggle and lose confidence early. He would dial it back up if the team was more experienced. It's harder now. Earlier in BD's UF career, you weren't penalized for beating up on some patsies. Now you are.
You are correct. We were getting better and just as Kugel started to really emerge, down went CC. We were fighting our way toward the positive side of the bubble but that killed our chances. With a healthy CC, I think we win 3 or 4 more games before Selection Sunday, and that would have sneaked us in. Ah, well, it's all water over a burning bridge now.