Florida Gators send a strong signal to the rest of SEC after blowing out Ole Miss Rebels, getting the respect they deserve
After an impressive win over the Ole Miss Rebels, the Florida Gators vaulted up the AP top-25 rankings.
After Saturday’s 52-28 blowout win over the Ole Miss Rebels, I pondered how high the Florida Gators would vault up the AP top-25 poll. Would they get into the top-10? With how consistent their performances have been, it wasn’t out of the question.
Not only did the Gators vault into the top-10, but they landed at No. 8, one spot ahead of the Rebels at No. 9.
Florida Gators rank in top-10 of AP Poll
It’s the first time we’ve seen the Gators in the top-10 of the AP poll since the Gators ranked 10th in Week 1 of the 2021 season, and the highest since they were sixth going into the infamous Marco Wilson “shoe” game against the LSU Tigers in 2020.
The Gators vaulting up 13 spots may feel like an overreaction to the naked eye, but it shouldn’t be when you consider the circumstances behind it. When Jon Sumrall took the Gators job, it was viewed as a really good hire by seemingly everyone. The one question we had about this Gators team wasn’t whether it would be good under Sumrall, but rather how quickly.
It was hard to gleam anything from the first two games being against Florida Atlantic and Campbell. There was a lot of hype and expectations going into the game against the Auburn Tigers in Week 3. Once they took out the Tigers with a 44-39 win, they were ranked for the first time at 21st. Waiting until they got that first key win makes sense, as does the vault to eighth.
This is a classic instance of waiting until you get enough of a sample size to see if the Gators were as good as we thought they were. Once they did the same thing to two good SEC opponents, they were immediately given the respect they deserved.
It’s also huge for the Gators to potentially make the College Football Playoff. They aren’t trying to make their way into the top-10; already being there is a massive asset to the cause of potentially winning a national championship.
Will they get there? Only time will tell, but everyone is putting respect on Sumrall’s Gators, and it’s about time.
