Florida spent Saturday off the field and still came away looking like one of the day’s winners.
While seven teams in the Top 25 lost, the Gators were at home watching the chaos unfold around them. The biggest hits came near the top, where BYU, Ole Miss and Texas Tech all went down, and No.
11 Tennessee also lost on the road to South Carolina. With Week 9 here, only three FBS teams remain undefeated.
Florida is not in that unbeaten group, but the Gators are positioned well heading into Saturday’s showdown with Georgia, which will be played in Atlanta for the first time in the history of the rivalry.
That’s enough to push Florida up inside the top 20 in this projected AP Top 25. Here’s how the ballot could shake out:
- Miami Hurricanes, 52-23 win over Pitt
- Ohio State Buckeyes did not play
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish did not play
- Georgia Bulldogs did not play
- Indiana Hoosiers, 13-6 win over Michigan
- UCLA Bruins, 28-10 win over Michigan State
- Utah Utes, 21-13 win over Houston
- Alabama Crimson Tide, 31-20 win over Texas A&M
- BYU Cougars, 39-31 loss to UCF
- Kentucky Wildcats, 34-17 win over Vanderbilt
- Ole Miss Rebels, 34-27 loss to Texas
- Wake Forest Demon Deacons did not play
- LSU Tigers, 38-17 win over Auburn
- Texas Longhorns, 34-27 win over Ole Miss
- Houston Cougars, 21-13 loss to Utah
- Texas Tech Red Raiders, 37-24 loss over Cincinnati
- Tennessee Volunteers, 27-24 loss to South Carolina
- Florida Gators did not play
- Boise State Broncos, 31-10 win over Washington State
- Missouri Tigers did not play
- SMU Mustangs, 59-20 win over California
- Iowa Hawkeyes, 13-10 loss to Minnesota
- Northwestern Wildcats, 42-14 win over Rutgers
- Arizona Wildcats, 39-3 win over Iowa State
- Virginia Tech Hokies, 20-16 win over Clemson
The real question underneath all this poll movement is whether the SEC is genuinely strong or just packed with evenly matched teams.
Georgia clearly qualifies as good, even with the loss to Auburn on its résumé. Florida, too, has reasons to believe it belongs in the conversation after beating Ole Miss at home and Texas on the road, which at least qualifies as a pair of quality wins.
Kentucky is another useful test case. Is it actually good, or has it simply benefited from some breaks and a schedule that looks easier now than it did in the preseason?
The Wildcats close with Tennessee, Florida, Missouri and Louisville. Three of those four opponents are currently ranked, and Louisville is described as maddeningly inconsistent but extremely talented on offense.
That stretch should clarify a lot, though each of those teams has its flaws.
Two losses have become the new normal, and that’s going to stack the middle of the rankings with a bunch of two-loss teams. Alabama sits in that group, but the Crimson Tide seem to get a different standard from pollsters.
Among the two-loss SEC teams, Alabama may be the least impressive. And if Florida and Alabama lined up this season, Florida would have a real shot.
Even with seven ranked teams taking losses, only one team - USC - is projected to fall out of the rankings entirely. Florida, meanwhile, held its place without even playing and moved into the CFP bubble. Not a bad day for the Gators.
In Other News...
Floridas Bye Week Comes With Two Huge Questions Before Georgia
Floridas bye week arrives with plenty to sort through after a demanding opening stretch that included three ranked opponents in its first seven games. The extra time gives the Gators a chance to reset on both sides of the ball, with the staff using the break to refine offensive and defensive plans while looking for answers that can help steady the season going forward.
The biggest questions are the ones that tend to linger at this point in the calendar, starting with the quarterback decision and the issues showing up in the secondary. With Georgia looming next, Florida does not have the luxury of treating this as a routine pause, especially with several upcoming SEC games and other matchups around the league also set to shape the Gators place in the bigger picture. [Read more 🡒]
Florida Fans Have One SEC Result To Watch Closely This Week
Floridas bye week does not mean Gators fans get to tune out the SEC race. Week 8 brings a full slate of games with real ripple effects for the league pecking order, and the watch guide is built around what matters most in Gainesville. Some matchups are worth keeping on in the background, especially with kickoff times, TV windows and betting lines making it easy to map out an entire Saturday around the conference.
Ole Miss against Texas stands out as the one Florida fans should circle most closely. It is the clearest must-watch game on the schedule, both because of its relevance to the bigger SEC picture and because it has the kind of competitiveness that can change the feel of the day fast. For a team idle this week, it is the rare matchup that can still make the bye feel busy. [Read more 🡒]
Florida Keeps Sending A Clear Message In The Trenches
Floridas push in the trenches keeps showing up on the recruiting trail, and the latest name to surface is Josiah Eney, a four-star offensive lineman from Maryland in the class of 2028. Florida has joined a long list of programs pursuing him, with Wisconsin, Auburn, Ohio State, Penn State and Tennessee all already involved, underscoring just how early the race is becoming for one of the more intriguing young big men in the country.
Eney has already drawn attention for the kind of frame and playing style that coaches covet, and his potential positional fit is part of what makes this offer notable for Florida. For a program trying to keep stacking talent up front, reaching into a national recruitment like this says plenty about where the staff wants to keep its focus, even with plenty of time left in the cycle. [Read more 🡒]