Florida still found itself inside the top 20 of the USA TODAY Sports NCAA re-rank after a narrow victory over USF a week ago, but falling to Tennessee in Week 4 sent the Gators plummeting down 21 spots to No. 38.
A lackluster showing on defense overshadowed a bounce-back week for Florida’s high-power offense and put the Gators at 2-2 overall and 0-2 against the SEC. Those numbers simply won’t compete for a top-25 ranking early in the season.
Unsurprisingly, Alabama and Georgia lead the way at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively. Kentucky is the next highest-ranked SEC team at No. 8 and Tennessee rounds out the top 10 after moving up 13 spots with the home win. Florida obviously lost to both of those teams, so it’s a bit surprising to see the Gators punished so severely for losing to a pair of top-10 opponents by a combined 15 points. Utah, Florida’s Week 1 opponent is ranked No. 22 as well.
As far as the rest of the SEC, Texas A&M‘s victory over Arkansas on Saturday put the Aggies at No. 16 and the Razorbacks at No. 17. LSU is the only other SEC program ranked ahead of Florida at No. 32, and Mississippi State is just behind at No. 42.
Florida State, which UF has a matchup with at the end of the season, currently ranks 23rd in the nation, and UCF is also ahead at No. 36. If it’s any sort of silver lining, Miami dropped 22 spots (one more than Florida did) to No. 71 overall after an embarrassing loss to Middle Tennessee.
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