Florida’s football team laid an egg in the first road game of conference play on Saturday night. Facing a Kentucky Wildcats team that has proved tricky in recent years, the Gators looked overmatched all game. They were dominated up front en route to a 20-13 loss that essentially ended Florida’s quest for back-to-back SEC East titles (and perhaps more).
Unsurprisingly, UF saw a big drop in this week’s edition of the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll. In fact, no team in the current rankings dropped further.
The Gators fell nine spots this week from No. 9 to No. 18. Florida is now just the fifth-highest ranked SEC team after No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Georgia, No. 14 Kentucky, No. 16 Arkansas and No. 17 Ole Miss. UF still (somewhat surprisingly) ranks above a one-loss Auburn team who scored a minor upset on the road against LSU on Saturday night. The Tigers are one spot behind at No. 19.
Florida could see its ranking drop even farther in the next few weeks, as after a tune-up at home against Vanderbilt, it hits the road for a matchup with LSU in Death Valley. After a bye, the Gators then draw Georgia. They will definitely be underdogs against UGA, and they could very well be in Baton Rouge, too.
The floor of this season got significantly lower with the loss to Kentucky, and it could be a battle for Florida to remain ranked with the coming schedule.
Here’s the full poll.
Full USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll:
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Change |
| 1 | Alabama | 5-0 | 1,623 (63) | – |
| 2 | Georgia | 5-0 | 1,562 (2) | – |
| 3 | Iowa | 5-0 | 1,429 | +2 |
| 4 | Penn State | 5-0 | 1,397 | +2 |
| 5 | Oklahoma | 5-0 | 1,380 | -1 |
| 6 | Cincinnati | 4-0 | 1,358 | +2 |
| 7 | Ohio State | 4-1 | 1,172 | +3 |
| 8 | Michigan | 5-0 | 1,125 | +6 |
| 9 | Oregon | 4-1 | 1,000 | -6 |
| 10 | BYU | 5-0 | 968 | +5 |
| 11 | Michigan State | 5-0 | 911 | +5 |
| 12 | Oklahoma State | 5-0 | 798 | +6 |
| 13 | Notre Dame | 4-1 | 777 | -6 |
| 14 | Kentucky | 5-0 | 758 | +9 |
| 15 | Coastal Carolina | 5-0 | 699 | +1 |
| 16 | Arkansas | 4-1 | 652 | -5 |
| 17 | Ole Miss | 3-1 | 629 | -5 |
| 18 | Florida | 3-2 | 464 | -9 |
| 19 | Auburn | 4-1 | 463 | +3 |
| 20 | Wake Forest | 5-0 | 441 | +5 |
| 21 | Clemson | 3-2 | 288 | -2 |
| 22 | North Carolina State | 4-1 | 257 | +6 |
| 23 | Texas | 4-1 | 256 | +3 |
| 24 | SMU | 5-0 | 142 | +8 |
| 25 | Arizona State | 4-1 | 141 | +12 |
Dropped from the rankings:
No. 13 Texas A&M; No. 20 UCLA; No. 21 Fresno State; No. 24 Baylor.
Others receiving votes:
Texas A&M 105; San Diego State 103; Baylor 40; Pittsburgh 34; Oregon State 27; Iowa State 27; Virginia Tech 24; Boston College 14; Texas-San Antonio 13; Appalachian State 11; Fresno State 8; Liberty 7; Mississippi State 6; North Carolina 5; Maryland 5; Western Michigan 2; Texas Tech 2; UL Lafayette 1; Nevada 1.
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