Week 3 of college football is officially in the books which means it is time to take a look at how the rankings shook out after yet another exciting weekend of gridiron action. Unfortunately for Gator fans, it was a bit more exciting than it really needed to be.
Florida escaped the Swamp on Saturday with a three-point win over the visiting South Florida Bulls — a matchup that had a 24.5-point spread according to many oddsmakers. Instead of a blowout, USF bullied the Gators on the ground and pestered quarterback Anthony Richardson for a pair of picks. Fortunately, the Orange and Blue won the turnover battle having forced three of their own to help outlast its pesky opponent.
The Gators barely slipped in the two major rankings, dropping one spot to No. 22 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll while slipping two down to No. 20 in the AP Top 25 Poll. USA TODAY Sports’ re-rank after Week 3 put Florida at No. 17 after falling one rung.
CBS Sports’ Chip Patterson also… ahem… chipped in with his latest take on where the Gators belong in his own college football 1-131 re-ranking. [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag]’s boys fell all the way to No. 25 in Patterson’s re-assessment — a loss of five spots, but still among the top 25.
The Southeastern Conference schools who made the list ahead of the Gators led off by the Georgia Bulldogs at No. 1 with the Alabama Crimson Tide right behind at No. 2. The Kentucky Wildcats come in at No. 8 while the Tennessee Volunteers rose to No. 11, Arkansas Razorbacks fell to No. 12, Ole Miss Rebels up to No. 14 and Texas A&M Aggies back in the top 25 at No. 22 to wrap up the eight SEC schools mentioned.
Florida and Tennessee are slated to face off in Knoxville this Saturday with kickoff scheduled for 3:30 p.m. EDT. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports and can be heard on the Gators Radio Network.
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