How the mighty have fallen. It’s been a while since Florida has been in the national spotlight, at least in terms of factoring into the national championship discussion, but the Gators typically aren’t a total afterthought.
Well, at 3-7, a few weeks removed from firing Billy Napier, the Gators are making national headlines for their pursuit of Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin, but the company writing many of those headlines had no interest in talking about the game on the field in Gainesville today.
Even in a light slate, with most SEC teams playing cupcakes or on a bye in Week 13, ESPN’s College GameDay crew neglected to give their picks for Florida’s rivalry showdown with Tennessee in The Swamp tonight.
ESPN "College GameDay" did not make predictions for the Tennessee-Florida rivalry game.
— Dan Harralson (@danharralson) November 22, 2025
ESPN crew neglects to pick Florida vs. Tennessee in Week 13
The Gators and the Volunteeers have played 54 times, with 32 of those going to Florida, including six of the last eight matchups and 10 straight in The Swamp. No. 20 Tennessee is favored by just 3.5 points on the road, and the game is being featured on ABC at 7:00 p.m. ET, yet the crew almost ignored it entirely.
In some fairness, the game has no bearing on the College Football Playoff, which at this point in the season is the entire focus of the national consciousness. Tennessee has three losses, and though one of those was in overtime to Georgia, which is vying for a Top 4 seed and a first-round bye in the CFP, that’s too many for the Vols to overcome. With seven losses on the other side, Florida is out of bowl game contention.
Yet, just last week, Florida gave No. 6 Ole Miss everything it could handle in Oxford, leading 24-20 at halftime before the Rebels rallied to score 14 points in the fourth quarter and escape with a 34-24 win.
Florida has lost three straight and is reeling under interim head coach Billy Gonzales, but it’s still major disrespect to two storied SEC programs not to be featured in the GameDay picks portion of the show.
Florida will never become an afterthought, but the Gators are perilously close. That makes this hiring cycle so crucial, and explains the program’s fervent pursuit of Kiffin, who has vaulted Ole Miss into the CFP conversation every year. That’s where the Gators need to be, and Kiffin might be the one who can get them there.