Florida not on many early radars for 2026 and Jon Sumrall probably likes it that way

In retrospect, the amount of love and praise the Florida Gators received last offseason was laughable. Coming off the heels of their four-game winning streak to end the 2024 season, Florida showed up on all types of Way Too Early Top 25 lists and was seen as a dark-horse playoff contender.

We all know how that story ended.

Florida is not getting that benefit of the doubt heading into 2026, and if we are being honest, Jon Sumrall might like it that way.

Florida not included in Way Too Early Top 25

CBS Sports released a list of bold predictions for their Way Too Early Top 25, and the Gators were not on that list. It’s only slightly notable because fellow 2025 crashouts Penn State, South Carolina, and Virginia Tech did make the cut, as well as underachievers like LSU, Missouri, Louisville, and SMU.

Virginia Tech, LSU, and Penn State all got bumps for their new coach, but Florida did not. South Carolina and Missouri keep being given second, third, and fourth chances to prove themselves, but not Florida.

But Sumrall probably doesn’t mind that the bulk of the national media has low expectations for his maiden voyage. In a weird juxtaposition, Sumrall and his staff have talked about the need to win right away and how Florida can one day win a national title, but he then opted to quote-tweet a post from On3/Rivals that highlighted the fact Florida was one of only six schools to sign both a top 15 recruiting class AND a top-15 transfer portal class.

Sumrall’s tweet simply included an emoji of a rat and an emoji of a skull, a nod to the “Rat Poison” quip Nick Saban once made famous for saying anything nice about the team.

This is the same Sumrall who is making players earn the right to wear the Gator logo, among other things.

The crazy part is that it wouldn’t actually be crazy to be Florida in the top 25 of one of these lists. The thing we said all along about the Billy Napier Era is that while the roster wasn’t a national title-contending roster, it was still good enough that it should have at least been around the fringes of the playoffs.

With the cache of playmakers coming back on offense, Florida’s roster in 2026 should be good enough to go 9-3, given the schedule facing the Gators.

For now, Sumrall and crew are going to have to earn the trust of others, given the mess left behind.