One of the more underrated moments that had massive consequences for the 2025 college football season was when Florida knocked off Texas in The Swamp. The Gators kept Arch Manning in check, and in a lot of ways, it was a reminder of what Florida should have been in the Billy Napier Era.
That loss for Texas is ultimately what kept the Longhorns out of the playoffs as they finished the regular season 9-3, with losses to Florida, Ohio State, and Georgia.
Now, with playoff expansion front and center of the conversation, that game is being used as a reference point to justify trying to expand the playoffs.
Florida’s win over Texas a sign of SEC strength
At the SEC Spring Meetings, programs were given a presentation by the College Football Playoff officials about the metrics they use to select the 12 teams that will ultimately make up the playoffs in December. A piece by Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated hinted that things were not well-received by those in the room.
The belief, which does have some merit to it, is that the SEC is far stronger from top to bottom compared to the other conferences around the country. But then Georgia AD Josh Brooks tried to bring up Florida’s win over Texas as a sign of the strength within the conference and while we’ll take the compliment, it shouldn’t be used as an excuse to put Texas in:
“And to me, that’s hard to say when you go to some of these venues, especially at night. When you judge Texas on the loss at Florida last year and say that’s going to be a massive hit to their résumé. Well, Florida’s a really tough team and that’s a really tough place to play.”
Not to belittle Florida’s win, but this is the same Gator squad that just lost to USF at home a couple of weeks earlier. This is the same Florida team that lost to Miami, Arkansas, Tennessee, LSU, Texas A&M, and Kentucky at home during the Billy Napier Era.
The Swamp is a tough environment, and it continues to be sold out every weekend, but Florida was not a good team last year, and trying to elevate them as anything else undermines the legitimacy of the core of the argument that the leaders of the SEC are trying to make.
The message for Texas is simple: Don’t lose to a 4-8 Florida squad that fired its coach less than a month later, and you would have made the playoffs.
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