Florida gets a bump to No. 17 in the AP Poll as Jon Sumrall prepares for his first Georgia game

The Florida Gators moved up three spots on their week off, proving that sometimes the best action is no action. 

With the slight uptick in the AP Top 25 poll, the Gators now face what should be their toughest challenge of the season, No. 3-ranked Georgia. The Bulldogs, who were also on a bye week, moved up a couple of spots in the poll after falling to Auburn in Week 7.

The Miami Hurricanes are the No. 1 team in the country for the second week in a row after dominating Pitt. Meanwhile, Ohio State moved up to No. 2 by hanging out on the couch, and Indiana, which did play and knocked off Michigan in overtime, slid up to No. 4. Notre Dame rounds out the top 5.

Much of the chaos in college football revolved around the SEC because someone important is going to lose nearly every week. The big losers were Ole Miss (down five spots to No. 12) and Tennessee (down five spots to No. 16), while Texas' win over the Rebels put the Longhorns right back in the mix at No. 11.

SEC gets nine teams in the AP Top 25

1. Miami Hurricanes (59 first-place votes)
2. Ohio State Buckeyes (10)
3. Georgia Bulldogs
4. Indiana Hoosiers
5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
6. Utah Utes (1)
7. UCLA Bruins
8. BYU Cougars
9. Kentucky Wildcats
10. Alabama Crimson Tide
11. Texas Longhorns
12. Ole Miss Rebels
13. Texas Tech Red Raiders
14. Wake Forest Demon Deacons
15. LSU Tigers
16. Tennessee Volunteers
17. Florida Gators
18. Houston Cougars
19. SMU Mustangs
20. Boise State Broncos
20 (tie) Northwestern Wildcats
22. Arizona Wildcats
23. Missouri Tigers
24. Oklahoma State Cowboys
25. Wisconsin Badgers

The Florida-Georgia game has extra importance for both sides

With the Gators back on the CFP bubble at No. 17, it's basically playoffs from here on in. They have to upset the Bulldogs this Saturday in Atlanta and not suffer a letdown similar to what happened earlier in the season when consecutive blowout losses saw Florida get pushed out of the polls after reaching No. 8.

The World's Largest Outdoor Party is being played in a dome this year — Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium — and that's going to be a little strange, but it should be a lot of fun for a city that has huge alumni bases from both schools. It's also the first time since 2020 that the Gators and Bulldogs are both ranked when this game has appeared on the schedule.

As a matter of fact, since 1990 there have only been 15 occasions of this great border rivalry where both teams were ranked in the AP Top 25. Florida has a 10-5 edge in those games, which can be mostly credited to Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer's mastery of the Bulldogs.

Jon Sumrall will be heading into his first Florida-Georgia clash and the trends for first-year Gator coaches in this game over a similar time period haven't been as kind. Even Spurrier, who lived to beat Georgia, couldn't get one over on the Bulldogs his first time out:

1989: Steve Spurrier, L (17-10 UGA)
2002:Ron Zook, W (20-13 UF)
2005:Urban Meyer, W (14-10, UF)
2011:Will Muschamp, L (24-20, UGA)
2015:Jim McElwain, W (27-3, UF)
2018:Dan Mullen, L (36-17, UGA)
2022:Billy Napier, L (42-20, UGA)

History tells us a story, but it doesn't tell the whole story and, in the case of Mullen and Napier, the battles against Georgia were with the machine that Kirby Smart built. It's a machine that Sumrall will have to gear his Gators up to rage against if they want to play meaningful games in November. 

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow