![Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier claps his hands at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, November 23, 2024 after the Gators defeated the Rebels 24-17 [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_5765,h_3242/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/213/01jdnmvtg883qtbgzdv3.jpg "Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier claps his hands at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, November 23, 2024 after the Gators defeated the Rebels 24-17 [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]")
Even with some of the hope and banter that Florida Football should be ranked after beating Ole Miss, there was never a genuine argument for it to happen. The Gators were non-competitive in three of their losses and ultimately only had two "quality" wins on the season.
But in 2025 the pressure is going to ramp up for Florida to make a genuine push for the playoffs and the rankings on Tuesday night revealed something important for the Gators to note next season.
Florida Football: Third time is the charm
Prior to the season, there was some pie-in-the-sky discussion of whether or not the Gators could sneak into the playoffs if they went 9-3 given the difficulty of their schedule. Historically, it's taken 10-2 to make it inside the top 12, and as it stands right now history is holding up.
Alabama, Ole Miss, and South Carolina are all sitting at 8-3, and as it stands right now, all three are on the outside looking in.
The Gamecocks, in particular, are going to be the interesting one to watch because none of their three losses are considered bad losses, and they do have two wins over teams currently ranked (Texas A&M and Missouri).
If they can beat 12th-ranked Clemson, Gator fans will secretly want South Carolina to make it in the playoffs because it gives Florida a proof of concept to go 9-3 in 2025 and make provided none of their losses are non-competitive and/or against teams they shouldn't lose against.
The other thing to note is that Georgia and Tennessee at 9-2 are currently ahead of 10-1 SMU and Indiana. That should give some comfort as the guaranteed benchmark to hit if Florida wants to go dancing in 2025.
Florida, of course, needs to fix a number of things in 2025 for this conversation to matter, but with DJ Lagway at the helm and an aggressive transfer portal, it is something to keep an eye on.