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Florida tries to troll EA Sports while also ignoring the elephant in the room

ByBenjamin Henderson|
Nov 23, 2024; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Fans cheer in front of a sign during the second half between the Florida Gators and Mississippi Rebels at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images
Nov 23, 2024; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Fans cheer in front of a sign during the second half between the Florida Gators and Mississippi Rebels at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

Now that we have an annual college football video back in rotation, we are about to hit the time of year when video game ratings and rankings are bound to be discussed and disputed.

In round one, EA Sports released their list of "Toughest Places To Play" for the upcoming CFB26, and The Swamp came in 7th. That's actually an increase from 10th last year's game.

But Florida's social media page didn't think that was high enough and made an attempt to troll EA Sports. Problem is, the data doesn't support the troll job.

Florida Gators ranked 7th toughest place to play in CFB26

On social media, Florida responded to the list EA Sports put out with a graphic "7th Toughest Place To Play." It was done in a shaking font, and if you don't spend all your waking hours on the internet, just know that style of font is meant to poke fun at the list to imply The Swamp should have been higher.

Now we all know that when The Swamp is rocking, it is genuinely one of the hardest places to play in college football. When Gator Nation is 93,000 strong and becomes an insane asylum, the truly only Gators get out alive.

There is just one slight problem to this narrative:

A lot of non-Gators have been getting out alive in recent years.

In the Billy Napier Era, Florida is 14-6 at home. That doesn't sound too bad, but that number also drops to 8-6 against Power Four opponents and also includes losses to unranked Arkansas, the 41-17 loss to Miami, and the loss to Texas A&M this past season that led to the stadium emptying out by halftime.

Throw in some other wins where Florida was sleepwalking and was lucky to get out alive (2022 against USF being a prime example), and one could argue The Swamp was lucky to be in the top ten in the first place.

The good news is that The Swamp will get to host Texas, Tennessee, and FSU, among others, in 2025, so there will be plenty of opportunities for Florida to showcase just how much of an advantage home field is in Gainesville.

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