On the heels of a close 24-17 victory over the Missouri Tigers, the Florida Gators come in at No. 35 in ESPN’s latest SP+ rankings, per Bill Connelly.
The SP+ ranking system was developed by Connelly in 2008 and, in his own words, is “a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency” and “intended to be predictive and forward-facing.”
The offensive metric is much kinder to the Orange and Blue than the defensive metric. Offensively, the Gators are the 28th-best team in SP+. Defensively, Florida comes in at No. 49. Paired with the eye test, this makes sense. Without [autotag]Ventrell Miller[/autotag], the Gators’ defense looks lost on the field. Miller’s impact is clear on plays when he is not involved. Florida’s lack of depth, something head coach [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] continues to emphasize, allows teams to exploit the Gators’ defense later on in games.
Florida has four teams on its remaining schedule ranked above them. Georgia (No. 3), LSU (No. 25), Texas A&M (No. 26) and Florida State (No. 33). The first of those four opponents comes this Saturday when the Gators host LSU in a primetime matchup. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. EDT and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.
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