On a day with seven teams in the Top 25 losing, the Florida Gators won while they were sitting at home watching all the chaos happening around them.
The big stories were the three losses in the top 10 — BYU, Ole Miss and Texas Tech all suffered defeats, and Tennessee, which was ranked No. 11, lost on the road to South Carolina. It's one of those seasons in college football and as we reach Week 9, there's just three teams in the FBS that remain undefeated.
Florida isn't one of those three, but the Gators have to like where they stand going into this Saturday's showdown against Georgia, which will be held in Atlanta for the first time in the history of the rivalry. Here's how I see the Top 25 shaking down:
Predicted AP Top 25 Poll for Week 9
1. Miami Hurricanes, 52-23 win over Pitt
2. Ohio State Buckeyes did not play
3. Notre Dame Fighting Irish did not play
4. Georgia Bulldogs did not play
5. Indiana Hoosiers, 13-6 win over Michigan
6. UCLA Bruins, 28-10 win over Michigan State
7. Utah Utes, 21-13 win over Houston
8. Alabama Crimson Tide, 31-20 win over Texas A&M
9. BYU Cougars, 39-31 loss to UCF
10. Kentucky Wildcats , 34-17 win over Vanderbilt
11. Ole Miss Rebels, 34-27 loss to Texas
12. Wake Forest Demon Deacons did not play
13. LSU Tigers, 38-17 win over Auburn
14. Texas Longhorns, 34-27 win over Ole Miss
15. Houston Cougars, 21-13 loss to Utah
16. Texas Tech Red Raiders, 37-24 loss over Cincinnati
17. Tennessee Volunteers, 27-24 loss to South Carolina
18. Florida Gators did not play
19. Boise State Broncos, 31-10 win over Washington State
20. Missouri Tigers did not play
21. SMU Mustangs, 59-20 win over California
22. Iowa Hawkeyes, 13-10 loss to Minnesota
23. Northwestern Wildcats, 42-14 win over Rutgers
24. Arizona Wildcats, 39-3 win over Iowa State
25. Virginia Tech Hokies, 20-16 win over Clemson
Is the SEC actually good or is it just balanced?
We like to talk about how tough the SEC is, but where are the really good teams at? Georgia is definitely good, even with the loss to Auburn on its record. We hope that Florida is good, or at least above average. The Gators have beaten Ole Miss at home and Texas on the road, so there are some quality wins...we think.
The SEC has plenty of parity and that's great, but is it good? Is Kentucky a good team or a team that's gotten some good fortune and a schedule that's turned out to be easier than it initially looked on paper? The Wildcats' final four games are against three teams that are currently ranked — Tennessee, Florida and Missouri — and Louisville, a team that is maddeningly inconsistent, but extremely talented on offense. I think we'll find out more about Kentucky, but all four of its remaining opponents are very flawed teams.
Two losses have become the new thing and there will be a glut of two-loss teams that clog up the middle of the polls. Alabama is a two-loss team that appears to be above the fray because the pollsters tend to grade the Crimson Tide on a curve. But of the two-loss SEC teams, Alabama might be the least impressive. If the Gators and the Crimson Tide met this season, who wouldn't give Florida a good shot at pulling off the win?
There are plenty of arguments for and against teams in the polls, but even with seven ranked teams falling, I only have one — the USC Trojans — exiting the rankings. As for the Gators, they did not but rest on Saturday, and jumped into the CFP bubble as a result. Not bad work if you can get it.
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