Preseason FPI rankings speak to the challenge Florida faces in Jon Sumrall's first year

The Florida Gators are a top-20 FPI team and that's the good news. 

The bad news is the Gators have a lot of opponents that are also in the FPI Top 25...a lot of them. Try six. So yeah, being No. 18 in the FPI is nice and it's another nice early endorsement for this team, but it's also a harsh reminder of the climb that Florida faces in its first year under Jon Sumrall. 

READ MORE: Florida’s schedule adds pressure FSU never has to carry

The Florida opponents in the FPI Top 25 are:

2. Texas
5. Georgia
12. Oklahoma
14. Ole Miss
22. Auburn
23. South Carolina

There aren't too many teams that can say they have four teams in the FPI top 14. Maybe Texas, but that's what Steve Sarkisian gets for talking all that noise.

Is the FPI a good barometer of where a team will finish?

Not really. It's an inexact science on a good day and a bit of a stretch in college football's current climate where you have so many moving parts with the comings and goings of the Transfer Portal. And many teams expect more production from top freshmen than ever before.

However, it's never a stretch to say Texas and Georgia are going to be very good. The Longhorns and Bulldogs are usually very good. Oklahoma and Ole Miss feel like teams that the college football media is expecting more than what they can deliver. Auburn makes no sense because...what are they? Alex Golesh has had one good season as a coach. And don't even get me started on South Carolina. 

So, yeah, the teams that are expected to be very good are still going to be very good, but what about a team like Texas Tech that has a big question mark about its season with the departure of Brendan Sorsby? The Red Raiders are 10th and it's based on what exactly? They lost their two best defensive players to the NFL draft and the quarterback they spent a ridiculous amount of money on won't play this year. Like I said, it's an inexact science at best. 

Florida will get all the FPI smoke in a seven-week span

The Gators open their SEC slate with Auburn on September 19 and follow it up with a home game against Ole Miss. Then four of the next five games after that are against preseasn FPI top-25 teams. The only other game during that stretch is Missouri, who might have the best running back in the nation. 

READ MORE:  Florida got some early kicks in 2026 but avoided a total schedule disaster

This is nothing new for Gator fans. They haven't had an easy schedule in decades and the only prevailing thought is that it could be worse. The SEC schedule makers could have decided to twist the knife further and added LSU and Texas A&M to the schedule. Look at the draw Arkansas gets almost every year? (BTW who did they anger in the SEC offices?)

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