Florida Gators shown severe disrespect by ESPN’s way too early top 25, and it’s a mistake for one crucial reason

Jon Sumrall’s Florida Gators are simply too talented to leave out of the top 25.

Tyler Forness — NFL & College Football News Writer
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Dec 1, 2025; Gainesville, FL, USA; Florida Gators head coach Jon Sumrall walks into the room before the press conference at the Heavener Football Training Center at the University of Florida.
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Coming off a 4-8 season, the Florida Gators made wholesale changes, hiring head coach Jon Sumrall to replace Billy Napier and using the transfer portal like every other top-tier program.

With those changes comes some uncertainty. Everyone thought the Gators had finally gotten it right with Napier, and he finished 22-23 in his three-plus seasons. Sumrall has done everything right so far, but his Gators have yet to hit the field with him at the helm.

ESPN leaves Florida Gators out of way too early top 25

Now that the Indiana Hoosiers defeated the Miami Hurricanes 27-21, the way-too-early polls start to be released, and ESPN didn’t have the Gators listed.

Yes, you read that correctly.

It’s frustrating to see the Gators not make the top-25, but it shouldn’t be a huge surprise. On3 Sports has the Gators at 24th overall, mainly on the back of Sumrall’s hiring. They also replaced DJ Lagway with Aaron Philo, who doesn’t have much cache as a former three-star recruit. He did play for new offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner the last two seasons with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, which gives the Gators more confidence that he will translate.

Here’s where things don’t make sense when it comes to overlooking the Gators. Despite their record, they are loaded with talented athletes. After winning the SEC Championship Game, Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart was honest about the Gators: Don’t overlook them.

“People are going to ridicule and make fun of Florida,” said Smart. “That roster is big, and physical, and talented. People don’t get it.”

Smart isn’t wrong. The Gators were a couple of small breaks away from beating the Bulldogs in Jacksonville, and it took those breaks for the Bulldogs to get the win. The Gators also beat the Texas Longhorns and were very competitive against the Texas A&M Aggies and Ole Miss Rebels. They weren’t that far off from being bowl-eligible.

This Gators team will be a lot different from last year’s, but it will arguably be better than last year. The transfer portal additions and subtractions are relatively close to each other, and the top five players from the Gators’ roster are back this year, including running back Jadan Baugh.

When we look back at this in one year, it’ll feel like a distant memory.

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