Florida football prevailed over the UCF Knights Saturday night in the Swamp, 24-13, to move over the .500 mark for the first time this fall. It also gave the Gator Nation a glimpse of how well this team can play when hitting on all cylinders.
While it was an important win for [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] and Co. — especially since it relieved a modicum of pressure from the head coach’s hot seat — the grueling schedule ahead still does not bode well for the third-year skipper who clings to his job by the skin of his teeth.
Nonetheless, the Orange and Blue saw some improvements in the various ratings and rankings updates from around the nation, including ESPN’s SP+ rankings put together by Bill Connelly.
Florida football’s SP+ ranking, rating
Last week, the Gators were ranked 30th out of 134 Football Bowl Subdivision schools, with an overall rating of 11.3. After the Week 6 victory, Florida is now ranked No. 23 with a 14.2 overall rating.
The special teams unit, which spent a few weeks as the top-rated corps in the country, moved back up to No. 5 from No. 8 last week with a 0.4 rating.
On offense, the team moved up from No. 12 with a 37.5 rating to No. 10 with a 38.0 rating while the defense took a big jump from No. 68 to No. 49 with a 24.2 rating, which was oddly 2.2 points lower than last week’s figure.
SP+ Top 10 Teams
The Texas Longhorns assumed the top spot in this week’s SP+ rankings, followed by the Ohio State Buckeyes, Alabama Crimson Tide, Georgia Bulldogs and Ole Miss Rebels rounding out the top five.
The remainder of the top 10 is occupied by the Penn State Nittany Lions, Oregon Ducks, Tennessee Volunteers, Miami Hurricanes 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.”
Next up for Florida
The Gators head to Knoxville next week to resume Southeastern Conference play against Tennessee. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.
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