We have reached the midpoint of the 2025 college football season, and so far, the Florida Gators have been a bit of a disappointment for those loyal to the Orange and Blue.
After a season-opening win at home against the LIU Sharks — the program’s first shutout of the Billy Napier era — it has been mostly downhill for the gririon gang in Gainesville. Things reached a nadir when UF lost for the first time ever to the USF Bulls in the Swamp during Week 2, and save for a Week 6 home win over the struggling Texas Longhorns, the Gators continued their struggles against SEC opponents with a loss in College Station to the Texas A&M Aggies.
To be fair, Florida came into the fall facing what was considered one of the hardest schedules among FBS schools. Even though some of the projections for the Gators’ opponents have softened a bit, it remains a tough grind to the finish for Napier and Co.
This week’s ESPN SP+ rankings, put together by college football guru Bill Connelly, have Florida ranked at No. 36 — which is much better than some of the non-computerized reranks — down five spots from last week. That puts the Gators between the No. 35 Iowa State Cyclones and No. 37 Arkansas Razorbacks with a 10.8 overall ranking.
Florida’s offense earned a 29.1 rating, which ranks 61st in the nation, along with an 18.5 rating (22nd) on defense and 0.2 (20th) on special teams.
About ESPN’s SP+ projections
“What is SP+? In a single sentence, it’s a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency that I originally created at Football Outsiders in 2008. SP+ is intended to be predictive and forward-facing,” Connelly offers.
“It is not a résumé ranking (hence the lack of unbeatens near the top), so it does not automatically give credit for big wins or particularly brave scheduling — no good predictive system does. It is simply a measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football. If you’re lucky or unimpressive in a win, your rating will probably fall. If you’re strong and unlucky in a loss, it will probably rise.”
ESPN’s Week 7 SP+ top 25 rankings
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida football slips in ESPN’s latest SP+ rankings after Week 7 loss at Texas A&M
Reporting by Adam Dubbin, Gators Wire / Gators Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
