Florida’s surge into the AP top 10 came with some real thunder attached.
After steamrolling then-No. 4 Ole Miss 52-28 in Gainesville, the Gators jumped from No. 21 to No. 8 in Sunday’s Associated Press Top 25. It’s Florida’s highest AP ranking since 2020 and its first appearance in the top 10 since 2021.
The win did more than just move a number next to Florida’s name. It turned a strong start into something bigger, with Jon Sumrall’s first Gators team now sitting at 4-0 and owning a marquee SEC victory that changed the national conversation around the program.
Florida entered the weekend with a chance to prove it belonged among the sport’s better teams. Instead, it went out and made the case loudly.
The Gators didn’t just beat Ole Miss; they controlled the game, finishing with a 24-point margin over a Rebels team that had climbed to No. 4 after beating LSU. Ole Miss dropped five spots to No. 9, landing just behind the Gators.
The jump is notable in more ways than one. Florida’s 13-place rise ties for the third-largest move in this week’s AP poll and stands as the second-largest leap in program history. The Gators also now find themselves in a crowded national elite tier, trailing only Texas, Georgia, Notre Dame, Miami, Ohio State, Indiana and Alabama.
Florida’s path to this point has been fast. The Gators opened the season unranked, then cracked the poll at No. 21 after a 44-39 road win over Auburn.
That victory pushed Florida to 3-0 for the first time since 2019 and got the program back into the AP rankings for the first time since September 2025. A week later, the Gators didn’t just hold serve - they broke through.
Miami also kept climbing, and the Hurricanes now sit in even sharper national focus. The unbeaten Hurricanes moved from No. 6 to No. 4, their best ranking of the season, and picked up one first-place vote in the new poll.
Texas stayed No. 1 with 62 first-place votes, followed by Georgia at No. 2 and Notre Dame at No. 3.
Miami sits ahead of Ohio State, Indiana, Alabama, Florida and Ole Miss.
Unlike Florida, Miami didn’t need a signature upset to make its move this week. The Hurricanes’ rise came from staying unbeaten at 4-0 and benefiting from results elsewhere near the top. Still, the end result is the same: Miami has placed itself firmly in the national championship conversation.
For Florida, the message from Saturday was even sharper. The Gators are no longer just one of the early surprises of the season.
They’ve become a top-10 team with the kind of win that changes how the rest of the country sees them. With Miami right alongside them, Florida now has two top-10 teams and two unbeaten programs carrying the state into October.
In Other News...
Miami Fans Can't Stop Talking About This Wild Hard Rock Photo
Miamis rout of Central Michigan was the kind of afternoon that gave Hurricanes fans plenty to enjoy at Hard Rock Stadium, from a 52-3 final to another efficient performance from quarterback Darian Mensah. He completed 23 of 27 passes for 338 yards and three touchdowns, added a rushing score, and had Malachi Toney giving the offense another big-play element with 120 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Yet one of the most talked-about moments from the day had nothing to do with the box score. A photo of a couple in matching custom jerseys with a viral message spread quickly across social media during the game, turning into the sort of sideline-adjacent image that gets shared almost as fast as touchdowns in a blowout like this. For a fan base already locked in on Miamis early-season rhythm, it was a reminder that the Hurricanes home atmosphere can produce its own side stories. [Read more 🡒]
Miami May Have Found A Better O-Line Mix At Last
Miamis offensive line had been one of the teams lingering questions early in the season, but the group looked far more settled against Central Michigan with a rotation that featured true freshman Ben Congdon and redshirt junior Jamal Meriweather at guard. The mix gave the Hurricanes a different look inside, and the results were hard to ignore, especially after a stretch in which finding the right five had been a work in progress.
According to Pro Football Focus, Miami allowed only two quarterback pressures and posted its best pass-blocking and run-blocking grades of the season. The run game also had more room to breathe, averaging 3.75 yards before contact per carry, which suggests the line may finally be finding a combination that gives the offense a little more balance moving forward. [Read more 🡒]
Miami Suddenly Has A Real RB2 Debate Before Clemson
Chris Wheatley-Humphrey made the most of a bigger opportunity against Central Michigan, topping 100 rushing yards on 11 carries and finding the end zone as Miami kept its backfield fresh for the bigger test ahead. With Mark Fletcher Jr. rested by design, the Hurricanes got a cleaner look at the rest of the room, and Wheatley-Humphrey did exactly what a backup is supposed to do when the door opens.
Now the conversation around Miamis backfield has shifted from simple depth to a real RB2 battle heading into Clemson. Mario Cristobal has already signaled that the staff expects a committee approach with Wheatley-Humphrey, Girard Pringle and Jordan Lyle all in the mix, which means the next few practices should matter as much as anything that happened on Saturday. For a team that wants to lean on its run game in a big ACC matchup, sorting out who gets the next touches is suddenly one of the more interesting personnel questions on the roster. [Read more 🡒]