The Florida Gators have yet to make it to the College Football Playoff, either in the four-team or 12-team era. Although a CFP berth is off the table for 2026 with three losses, the Gators checked in at No. 24 overall in the first-ever CFP rankings for 2026.
Gators in the @CFBPlayoff Rankings 🐊 pic.twitter.com/xV0QOajjtd
— Florida Gators Football (@GatorsFB) November 4, 2026
Let's take a look back at some of the highest-ranked Florida teams in the CFP era and how those respective seasons ended up. We'll go chronologically from the most recent season in the rankings, starting in 2020.
2020: Highest CFP ranking—No. 6
I mean, there's truly no other way to describe this season other than the Marco Wilson shoe-gate year. COVID was a weird year for just about everybody, but Florida was playing some great football.
The Gators were ranked sixth overall in the initial rankings after starting the season 8-1 with signature wins over Ole Miss, No. 5 Georgia, and a road win over Tennessee. Florida's lone loss was a three-point, 41-38 one to Texas A&M on the road. The Aggies were ranked 21st at the time.
The Gators had already clinched a spot in the SEC title game with their 31-19 win over the Vols the week prior. COVID caused Florida's October regular-season game to be rescheduled for Dec. 12, and the game was a thriller.
Evan McPherson tied the game up at 34 with 2:51 left on a 31-yard field goal. On LSU's ensuing drive, Florida had LSU deep in its own territory. Wilson had appeared to stop LSU's Kole Taylor short of a first down, but he threw Taylor's shoe and immediately got flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct.
The penalty kept LSU's drive alive, the Tigers drove down to Florida's 39. Through heavy fog, Tiger kicker Cade York nailed a 57-yard field goal to put a dagger in Florida's CFP hopes.
"Some fans think I went and grabbed the shoe off the ground," Wilson told ESPN last year for an interview of the incident. "That would be stupid. I'd have told myself that was stupid to go find the shoe, grab it and then throw it. No, I made the tackle, and as soon as he's on the ground, I look, I see the sticks, we're off the field, I'm excited, and -- boom. I've got a purple and gold shoe in my hand. I'm hype. Like, "Get off our field."
Florida played well against Alabama in the SEC Championship, but fell 52-46. The two losses in the four-team era ended the Gators hopes for a first-ever CFP berth. The Gators ended the season on a low note, losing 55-20 to Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl. Florida finished ranked seventh the rest of the season.
2019: Highest ranking—No. 9
The year before shoe-gate, Florida also was playing well during head coach Dan Mullen's second season in Gainesville. The Gators got out to a 7-1 start to the season, beating the likes of Miami in Orlando, Fla. in Week 1, Kentucky on the road, No. 7 Auburn and a 38-27 road win over South Carolina. Florida's lone loss came on Oct. 12, to Joe Burrow and the Tigers' dominant offense that year.
But Florida fell 24-17 to Georgia in a World's Largest Cocktail Party that took away CFP hopes. The game wasn't really ever that close except for a Kyle Trask touchdown pass to Van Jefferson that made it a 16-10 game, but Georgia countered with a touchdown on the very next series.
After the loss, the Gators checked in at 10th overall in the initial CFP rankings. Florida finished ninth in the final rankings after beating Vanderbilt, Missouri and Florida State in the last three weeks of the season. The Gators earned a CFP New Years Six Bowl berth in the Orange Bowl, and took down Virginia 36-28.
2018: Highest ranking—No. 9
Dan Mullen's first season in Gainesville was also a relative success, but a couple of bad losses killed Florida's hopes as a legitimate CFP contender. The first was when Florida fell 27-16 in Week 2 to Kentucky at home.
The Gators then won five straight games over Tennessee on the road, as well as ranked wins over Mississippi State and No. 5 LSU. Florida fell 36-17 in Mullen's first rivalry game against Georgia, which effectively knocked the Gators out of reaching the SEC title game and thus, the CFP. At 6-2, Florida was ranked 11th in the initial CFP rankings.
Florida followed up its loss to Georgia with a 38-17 loss to Missouri, but ended the season 3-0. The Gators were ranked ninth after beating Florida State 41-14. Mullen's team defeated Michigan 41-15 in the New Year's Six Peach Bowl that year.
2016: Highest CFP ranking—No. 11
Ah yes, how can we forget the Jim McElwain years in Gainesville? Neither of his teams really felt like true CFP contenders, but they were ranked and thus are included here.
In 2016, the Gators actually had a path to the CFP. Florida entered the first week of the CFP rankings at 11th, sitting at 6-1. Florida had a road loss to then-No. 14 Tennessee, but beat SEC opponents in Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Missouri and Georgia.
Florida checked in at 11th in the first CFP released in early November. The Gators had remaining games against LSU and Florida State left on the schedule, who were also both ranked by the CFP.
But those CFP hopes lasted just a matter of days, as the Gators went on the road to play Arkansas and fell 31-10 in Fayetteville. Arkansas' defense held Florida to just 12 rushing yards on the day.
Florida's CFP chances technically came back into play late in the season. Florida took down No. 16 LSU 16-10 in late November. The heated game, which was supposed to be played in Gainesville but was moved to Baton Rouge due to Hurricane Matthew, sent the Gators to the SEC title game.
The Gators jumped up from No. 23 to No. 15 after the win, sitting at 8-2. But Florida's 31-13 loss at Florida State killed the Gators' CFP hopes once and for all. Even if Florida beat Alabama in the SEC title game on Dec. 3, a CFP berth seemed relatively impossible with three losses with Clemson, Ohio State, Washington and Penn State in front of the Gators.
Florida finished the season ranked 17th in the CFP, and ended the season 9-4 with a 30-3 win over Iowa in the Outback bowl.
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2015: Highest CFP ranking—No. 8
This might be the one season that Florida had a legitimate shot at making the CFP. The Gators were ranked No. 10 overall in the first rankings, sitting at 7-1. Florida had an impressive resume, including a 38-10 win over then-No. 3 Ole Miss, road SEC wins over Kentucky, Missouri and a dominant 27-3 win over Georgia.
Florida's one loss was 35-28 on the road against No. 6 LSU. The Gators' place in the CFP rankings was especially interesting in relation to Alabama's, as well.
Despite having the same record as Florida, the Tide checked in at No. 4 overall. Alabama had a few more ranked wins than Florida did, beating ranked teams in Wisconsin, Georgia and Texas A&M. But Alabama did also have a 43-37 loss to Ole Miss, the same Rebel team the Gators beat 38-10.
Florida made it as high as 8th overall in mid-Nov. After wins over Vanderbilt at home and South Carolina on the road. The Gators' CFP resume took a big hit with Florida's 20-14 overtime win over a Florida Atlantic team that was 2-8 on the season. Still, the Gators had clinched a trip to the SEC title game earlier that season.
The Gators lost their second game of the season with a bad 27-2 loss to No. 13 Florida State. The Alabama-Florida CFP debate took care of itself as the Tide went undefeated from late September on, and took care of Florida 29-15 in the SEC title game. Alabama went on to win the national championship over Clemson that season, whereas Florida lost 41-7 to Michigan in the Citrus Bowl.
How will Jon Sumrall's 2026 season end up?
A CFP berth with three losses and no shot at making the SEC title game, even in the expanded 12-team field, is off the table. Florida's next two games against Oklahoma and Kentucky are critical for how Sumrall's first season will go. Not to mention the Gators can even play the role of CFP spoiler against Kentucky in a couple weeks.
In order to reach a semi-respectable bowl game, finishing out the season strong in the last five games will be key. The next step for Sumrall is building on a solid first season to make Florida a legitimate CFP contender.
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