It was a battle to the final play, but in the end, the Florida Gators fell to the Tennessee Volunteers in college football’s Week 7 in Knoxville, sending the Orange and Blue to an even 3-3 overall record but just 1-2 against Southeastern Conference foes.
Certainly, the overtime loss was a gut punch for Billy Napier — whose team held a two-score lead in the second half before losing their starting quarterback to a season-ending injury — there were plenty of bright spots in the game for Florida fans. The defense put on its best performance of the season, which kept the Gators on pace with a top-10 team for 60-plus minutes.
While some of the human re-ranks have not been kind to Florida following the rivalry loss, the computer models have been much more friendly. That includes ESPN’s SP+ which saw the Gators slide but still maintain their spot among the top 25 teams in the nation.
Florida football’s SP+ ranking, rating
Last week, Napier and Co. were ranked 23rd out of 134 Football Bowl Subdivision schools, with an overall rating of 14.2. After the Week 7 loss, Florida is now ranked No. 25 with a 12.6 overall rating.
The special teams unit, which spent a few weeks as the top-rated corps in the country a few weeks ago, slipped again from No. 8 to No. 13 after a performance against Tennessee that left something to be desired.
On offense, the team moved down from No. 10 with a 38.0 rating to No. 17 with a 35.7 rating while the defense bumped up from No. 49 to No. 46 with a 23.2 rating.
SP+ Top 10 Teams
The Texas Longhorns remain in the top spot in this week’s SP+ rankings, followed by the Ohio State Buckeyes, Alabama Crimson Tide, Ole Miss Rebels and Georgia Bulldogs rounding out the top five.
The remainder of the top 10 is occupied by the Penn State Nittany Lions, Oregon Ducks, Miami Hurricanes, Tennessee Volunteers and Notre Dame Fighting Irish, respectively.
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.”
Coming up for the Gators
The Gators host the Kentucky Wildcats inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 19, for this year’s homecoming game. Kickoff is set for 7:45 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
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