Some poor playcalling stood between the Florida Gators and a victory over the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday in a Southeastern Conference rivalry battle that took an extra period of play to resolve. Unfortunately, the Gators fell in Knoxville, 23-17.
The loss sends Billy Napier and Co. to 3-3 overall this fall and 1-2 against SEC opponents.
However, there is some good news — a silver lining, if you will — from defeat inside Neyland Stadium. Florida’s defense looked unusually robust and the Gators were able to hang with a top-10 team for over 60 minutes, so something must have gone right.
Some of the rankings sure think so, at least.
Florida football’s FPI ranking, rating
According to ESPN’s Football Power Index, Florida moved up nine spots from No. 36 to No. 27 while its overall FPI rating improved by 1.5 points from 7.2 to 8.7 following the loss. That puts the Gators between the No. 26 South Carolina Gamecocks and No. 28 Wisconsin Badgers.
Florida is now given a 33.8% chance of winning six games this fall — up from 31.6% last week — along with a 0% chance of winning the conference, a microscopic 0.2% chance of making the College Football Playoffs, a 0% chance of making the championship game and a 0% chance of winning the national title. The FPI’s final record predicts currently sits at 5.1-6.9.
SEC teams in FPI
The top five programs in the index this week remain unchanged, featuring four SEC schools headlined by the top-ranked Texas Longhorns (29.8), followed by the Alabama Crimson Tide (3rd, 23.7), Georgia Bulldogs (4th, 22.5) and Ole Miss Rebels (5th, 21.6).
The remainder of the top 25 consists of the Tennessee Volunteers (7th, 20.3), Texas A&M Aggies (12th, 15.6), LSU Tigers (14th, 14.6), Missouri Tigers (19th, 12.7), Oklahoma Sooners (20th, 12.0) and Arkansas Razorbacks (25th, 9.6).
Next up are the South Carolina Gamecocks (26th, 9.2) ahead of Florida, followed by the Kentucky Wildcats (32nd, 7.8), Auburn Tigers (34th, 7.6), Vanderbilt Commodores (35th, 7.6) and Mississippi State Bulldogs (59th, 2.0) to round out the SEC schools.
About ESPN’s FPI
“The Football Power Index is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team’s performance going forward for the rest of the season,” according to ESPN.
“FPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Projected results are based on 20,000 simulations of the rest of the season using FPI, results to date, and the remaining schedule.”
Coming up for the Gators
The Gators host the Kentucky Wildcats inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 19. Kickoff is set for 7:45 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
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