They must have had trouble with the way they used to do it. When my kids were seniors in hs, UF (and many of the other state schools) had a 1st round and the application was due on Oct 16th (I remember that because we were in the application/FA meeting with the GCs and the apps were due the NEXT DAY!) and then they found out around Dec 15th. It wasn’t really EA, it was just the first round. The second round application was due around Jan 15 and I think they found out in March. Housing was a big reason people wanted to be in the first round, but I never knew anyone who didn’t get housing at all (maybe not the preferred).
That was in 2014. A lot of her friends went to Florida International, UNF, or the smaller state schools, and they all applied in the spring. Maybe that early round at UF (and UCF and FSU) may have been too rushed.