Billy Napier and his Florida football team wrapped up the regular season on Saturday with a 31-11 triumph over the Florida State Seminoles in Tallahassee. The victory secured the Gators’ first winning season in four years as well as payback for losses to the ‘Noles the past two seasons.
The Orange and Blue’s late-season surge began with home wins over the LSU Tigers (who were ranked in the top 25 at the time) and Ole Miss Rebels, respectively, to clinch a playoff berth. While FSU came into the matchup with just two wins rivalry games just hit differently — especially when one is the victor.
Billy Connelly released his latest SP+ rankings on Sunday in which the Gators found themselves among the top 25 schools in the nation.
Florida football’s SP+ ranking, rating
After the conclusion of the college football regular-season schedule, Connelly’s rankings raised the Gators from No. 28 last week out of 134 Football Bowl Subdivision schools with a 10.2 overall rating to No. 22 with a 12.0 rating. That places Napier and Co. between the No. 21 Boise State Broncos (12.1) and No. 23 Missouri Tigers (12.0).
On offense, the team rose three spots to No. 34 and the corps’ rating increased 0.4 points to 32.0. The defense made a big jump, moving up from No. 42 to No. 33; however, the rating fell from 23.6 to 22.0.
The special teams unit, which spent a few weeks as the top-rated corps in the country at the start of the schedule, moved up one spot to No. 3 while holding onto a whopping 2.1 points for the position room — the highest rating of the fall, with most of the season spent maxed out at 0.4.
SP+ rankings top 10 teams
Despite the rivalry game loss to the Michigan Wolverines, the Ohio State Buckeyes held onto the top spot in the rankings for the fifth straight week, while the Oregon Ducks moved up a spot into second place. The Ole Miss Rebels are No. 3 followed by the Texas Longhorns and Alabama Crimson Tide, respectively, to round out the top five.
The Penn State Nittany Lions hold the sixth spot while the Georgia Bulldogs, Tennessee Volunteers, Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Miami Hurricanes, respectively, wrap up the top 10.
About SP+ predictions
“SP+ is intended to be predictive and forward-facing,” according to ESPN. “It is not a résumé ranking that gives credit for big wins or particularly brave scheduling — no good predictive system is.
“It is simply a measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football. If you’re lucky or unimpressive in a win, your rating will probably fall. If you’re strong and unlucky in a loss, it will probably rise.”
Up next for Florida
That is the end of the regular-season schedule for the Orange and Blue. Now the Gator Nation waits with bated breath to hear which bowl game their beloved football team will play in this December. Stay tuned to this website for more information.
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