It's no secret that Florida's 34-13 loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship game derailed the Gators' season-long hopes of winning back-to-back national titles, but you might think that Florida's 51-24 victory over  Cincinnati might have helped erase the memory of that game. 

Apparently, not so much.

Florida's strength and conditioning director Mickey Marotti said Wednesday that the SEC loss will be a  motivational tool for the Gators during their offseason workouts over the next three months.

"Because it was such a big game, and it didn’t turn out the way we wanted to, I think that’s a motivating factor right there,'' Marotti said. "(Winning the Sugar Bowl), I mean that’s good but the other one is always still there. I mean, it’s the SEC and you’re trying to win the SEC. That was great to finish like we did, but they had more lofty goals, so we use that for motivation.''

The Gators began their offseason strength and conditioning workouts nearly two weeks ago, and so far all is well.

"My biggest thing is I look at attitude and everybody has been great,'' Marotti said. "Their attitude and just their eagerness and willingness. As a coach, really anything working with people, that’s what you want. As a teacher you want that, as a coach you want that. Right now we have that.''