Despite a victory in the Florida Gators’ home opener against McNeese State, the Orange and Blue find themselves on the outside looking in once again.
On the flip side, their rivals and upcoming opponents participated in the AP poll’s shuffle this weekend.
The No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs remain on top after a demolition defeat of Ball State, 45-3. It looks like no one is going take down the ‘Dawgs for a while unless South Carolina can pull a massive upset next Saturday in a primetime matchup.
Florida State moved up to No. 3 after routing Southern Miss, 66-13, and still looks like a national threat. The victory over the No. 14 LSU Tigers (who remain stagnant) is enough to keep the upward trend and the team might remain a playoff contender if things continue to go well for them in 2023.
The Gators’ next opponent, the Tennessee Volunteers, surprisingly fell down two spots to No. 11, despite rolling over Austin Peay, 30-13, in their Saturday matchup. They fell one spot behind the Alabama Crimson Tide, who lost the primetime matchup with the (now) No. 4 Texas Longhorns, 34-24.
The unranked Florida Gators will look to gain a few votes this week if they take down Tennessee in Gainesville. It would have to be a convincing victory but don’t count out a Gators upset over their conference rival next week.
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