With the college football season just days away, final preseason rankings have been released, and Florida sits in the Top 25 of them all, but where they sit according to Chris Vannini of The Athletic might come as a surprise to some.
While Florida barely cracked the Top 25 of USA Today’s rankings by Paul Myerberg, who put them just above the cut line at No. 25, Vannini’s ranking is consistent of that to the most relied upon AP Top 25. Both the AP and The Athletic have the Florida Gators ranked at No. 15 in the final preseason rankings.
In the Athletic’s rankings, the Gators (No. 15) are sandwiched between Big 10 powerhouse Michigan Wolverines (No. 14) and the No. 16 SEC Ole Miss Rebels.
Florida gaining late respect in the rankings
The Gators went into the offseason with a lot of momentum after the 2024 season, with four straight wins and a win over Tulane in the Gasparilla Bowl. During that streak, they outscored opponents by 63 points. The key to that win streak was DJ Lagway at QB and the strength of Napier’s defense. But the momentum came when Lagway led the Gators. His presence as a dual-threat quarterback who can throw deep and run the ball presents multiple ways Napier can use Lagway to keep the defense guessing.
But Lagway will need to stay healthy throughout the season to pick up where he left off last season. There are some question marks around Lagway’s health after back-to-back injuries this spring. But Napier seems confident, and Lagway has said he feels good as well.
Napier has a lot of pressure on him coming into the season, and the expectation is for an appearance in the college football playoffs. Anything less than that will be a failed season for the Gators. They are ranked in the AP and The Athletic Rankings due to their performance in 2024 and the expectation of success heading into 2025.
But the task won’t be easy for Napier and the Gators. They have arguably one of the toughest strengths of schedules, being ranked by ESPN as the “toughest overall power 4 schedule” due to being the only team in the SEC who will have to face the league’s three highest-ranked preseason steams (No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Georgia, and No. 6 LSU), with Georgia and LSU both road games.
Later in the season they will be tasked with facing No. 21 Miami, Texas A&AM, No. 24 Ole Miss, and early-on in the season they also face USF, which believe it or not is a huge game for the Gators facing an in-state opponent.
The Gators have been ranked high coming into 2025 and it will now be up to them to prove their worth in the top 25 and put their name in the mix for an appearance in the college football playoffs at the end of the season.