Tag: rankings

Gators crack SP+ rankings top 20 after beating Kentucky in Week 8

Believe it or not, the computer models are feeling very bullish on the Florida Gators after the Kentucky win — specifically ESPN’s SP+.

Billy Napier finally got the results he had been looking for on Saturday, and it could not have been timed any better.

Coinciding with Florida football’s annual homecoming weekend, the Gators defended the Swamp against the Kentucky Wildcats in Week 8 and ran up a 48-20 final score to earn their fourth win of the season and second in Southeastern Conference play.

The Orange and Blue witnessed the true beginning of the [autotag]DJ Lagway[/autotag] era, whose arm pieced the ‘Cats defense with deep throws. The defense also came up strong for the squad including a pick-six to close out the scoring.

As a result of the key victory, Florida saw its stock rise significantly in the SP+ rankings from ESPN.

Florida football’s SP+ ranking, rating

Last week, Napier and Co. were ranked 25th out of 134 Football Bowl Subdivision schools, with an overall rating of 12.6. After the Week 8 win, Florida is now ranked 18th — an improvement of seven spots — with a 13.7 overall rating.

On offense, the team moved back from No. 17 with a 35.7 rating to No. 15 with a 36.1 rating while the defense inched up from No. 46 to No. 44 despite the rating falling from 23.2 to 22.8. The special teams unit, which spent a few weeks as the top-rated corps in the country at the start of the season, remained at No. 13 after a checkered performance against Kentucky.

SP+ Top 10 Teams

The Ohio State Buckeyes took over the top spot this week after the Texas Longhorns took their first loss of the season, falling to No. 2. The Ole Miss Rebels, Georgia Bulldogs — who beat Texas — and Oregon Ducks round out the top five, respectively.

The remainder of the top 10 is occupied by the Penn State Nittany Lions, Alabama Crimson Tide, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Tennessee Volunteers and Miami Hurricanes, 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.”

Coming up for Florida

The Gators are off next week due to their bye week. The next matchup for Florida will be against the Georgia Bulldogs on Nov. 2 in Jacksonville. That game will kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET and can be seen on ABC.

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Todd Golden ‘not satisfied’ with Florida basketball’s preseason ranking

Gators men’s basketball head coach Todd Golden using the No. 21 preseason ranking as a “starting point” for upcoming season.

The Florida men’s basketball season is just over two weeks away, and anticipation is building as the program gears up for what promises to be an exciting year.

Head coach Todd Golden is heading into his third season with the Gators and after an appearance in the NCAA Tournament last season, the men’s basketball team looks to build upon that this year.

Florida earned the No. 21 spot in the preseason AP poll, marking the first time since 2019 that the Gators entered the season ranked in the top 25.

“Yeah, I think it says that we’re on the right track,” Golden said about the ranking at SEC media days. “As you said, we’re not spending a whole lot of time applauding ourselves on being ranked 21st. Like I said, we appreciate the respect that we’re receiving from the AP, and it means a lot to us.”

Golden emphasized that the Gators aren’t content with their No. 21 ranking, viewing it instead as “a starting point” for the season ahead.

“We’re using that as a starting point, but we’re not satisfied with that being our final ranking,” Golden said. “But now going into year three, we feel like being ranked there and then having the opportunity to maybe advance in the tournament if we do what we’re capable of will be the right trajectory for what this program needs and what it deserves. It’s a nice honor, but we’re not satisfied with that.”

As the season-opener approaches, the team’s focus is on building chemistry, staying competitive and climbing past their preseason ranking. For Golden and his players, this is just the start—they have their sights set on a deep run in March.

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Florida ranked among top five college baseball programs

The Florida Gators have never finished outside of the top 5 in D1Baseball’s top-100 rankings, and that’s not changing heading into 2025.

Every two years, D1Baseball attempts to capture the current landscape of college baseball by ranking the top 100 programs. Florida has never finished outside of the top five and continued that trend by placing third in the 2024 rankings.

“Kevin O’Sullivan has created an absolute monster during his tenure in Gainesville, and the Gators moved up one spot from No. 4 to No. 3 in our latest ranking of the nation’s premier programs,” D1Baseball co-owner Kendall Rogers wrote.

“To give you an idea what kind of culture the Gators have, look no further than last season. UF entered the 2024 campaign with high expectations. But for a myriad of reasons, they didn’t reach their full potential until the tail end of the season. Not only did the Gators squeak into a Regional, they won a Super Regional and made yet another trip to the College World Series.”

Finishing in the top five takes more than one season of success, though. The Gators have been “the epitome of consistency in the modern era of college baseball,” under Sully, and making it to Omaha is expected at this point. Coming up short of the College World Series isn’t just a disappointment for his club, it’s a failure.

Florida also has the advantage of recruiting one of the most talent-rich areas in the country. The state of Florida might be the best in the country when it comes to producing college talent. Floridians have the advantage of playing year-round, and the Gators pull players from all four major areas of the state — North (Jacksonville), South (Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach), Central (Orlando) and West (Tampa).

The changes to the transfer portal have only strengthened Florida’s grip on the college baseball world. Look no further than the players O’Sullivan has brought in over the past two seasons.

Southern Miss transfer Hurston Waldrep pitched his way to a first-round selection in Gainesville, Colby Shelton had the best power season ever in Florida history after transferring from Alabama and Miami star Blake Cyr appears to be the next high-profile player to join the Gators.

There are very few places college baseball players would rather be than the University of Florida. In fact, only Tennessee and LSU rank ahead of Florida on this list.

The rest of the top 5

The Tigers beat the Gators in the College World Series two years ago and have gone from good to great in the recruiting world, following the success of homegrown talents (Dylan Crews) and transfer talent (Paul Skenes).

The Volunteers have rapidly moved up the rankings, going from unranked in 2017 to No. 69 in 2019 to No. 17 in 2022 and No. 2 this season. Tony Vitello has made Rocky Top a premiere destination in the sport and climbed to the top of the SEC alongside Florida and LSU.

Vanderbilt and Arkansas check in at No. 4 and 5, respectively, proving that the Southeastern Conference is the most dominant in the country. It’s the first time that Vandy has finished outside of the top two, which says a lot about the teams ranked ahead of it. Arkansas consistently finishes near the top of the conference, but not claiming a national title hurts the Razorbacks ever so slightly.

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Florida basketball just outside top 25 in preseason KenPom rankings

The KenPom rankings are considered by many to be the gold standard in college basketball, and Florida starts the 2024-25 season ranked 28th.

The AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll still reign supreme in college basketball, but many in the sport consider Ken Pomeroy’s rankings to be the gold standard.

Pomeroy has influenced coaches, oddsmakers and the game as a whole since making his rankings public in the early 2000s. Fast-forward two decades, and his tempo-based rankings are perhaps the best predictor of any single-game outcome in the sport.

That’s why it’s a big deal to see Florida ranked 28th overall in the KenPom preseason rankings.

“His ratings are derived from a proprietary algorithm, with the core centered on the Pythagorean calculation for expected winning percentage, made famous by baseball statistician Bill James,” ESPN explains. “Pomeroy’s formula is designed to be purely predictive, with an emphasis on margin of victory. He factors in offensive and defensive efficiency, tempo and even luck, but does not, however, take into consideration injuries or emotional factors.”

Florida’s KenPom ranking by the numbers

Florida’s net rating is 18.33, which can be found by taking the difference between a team’s offensive rating (110.6) and defensive rating (92.3). The Gators round out the top 20 offensively but barely crack the top 40 on defense at No. 39 among Divison I teams.

Pomeroy’s algorithm also considered tempo and luck. Todd Golden likes a fast-paced offense, and the Gators are ranked 23rd overall with a 73.6  adjusted tempo (possessions per 40 minutes, adjusted for opponent). Luck isn’t determined until games are played. The same goes for strength of schedule numbers.

SEC teams ranked inside KenPom top 50

Florida is on the cusp of a top-25 berth using Pomeroy’s system, but there are six teams ranked higher than the Gators on this list.

No. 3 Auburn and No. 4 Alabama are at the top of the conference with net ratings of 26.21 and 25.66, respectively. Tennessee is next up on the list at No. 13 with a 22.15 net rating, followed by Texas A&M (21.51) at No. 16 and Texas (20.05) at No. 18.

The closest team within reach of Florida is No. 25 Arkansas (18.41), and No. 32 Mississippi State (17.95) is on the other side of UF.

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Dennis Allen’s Saints rank last in total defense through 6 weeks

The New Orleans Saints currently rank last in yards allowed. They’ve given up 1,000 yards in the last two games, but their issues go further back:

The New Orleans Saints have given up over 1,000 yards over the course of the past two games, and now there’s no team in the NFL who gives up more yards per game. The Kansas City Chiefs game was bad, but the way the Tampa Bay Buccaneers dismantled Dennis Allen’s unit was a special type of beating.

Yardage has been an issue for the Saints’ defense. It was masked by the fact New Orleans played “bend but don’t break” defense. The lack of points scored against the team has held off some criticism. That can no longer be done after seeing 50 points on the scoreboard.

The Philadelphia Eagles game is a perfect example of this. The Eagles regularly drove down the field against the Saints. Nick Sirianni went for it on multiple fourth downs and failed.

New Orleans forced two turnovers, and both were in Saints territory. When you end the game only giving up 15 points and forcing two turnovers, it’s easy to not pay attention to the 460 yards.

The defense hasn’t been stonewalling teams, and now they’re allowing points on top of that. Turnovers couldn’t save them this week. They forced multiple interceptions, but still gave up over 500 yards and 50 points.

Defense used to be the backbone of this team. Now, it’s a hindrance.

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Florida football remains in SP+ rankings top 25 after Week 7 loss

The Gators are still a top-25 team in ESPN’s SP+ rankings despite the loss to the Vols. It’s good to see the computer model recognize a strong effort.

It was a battle to the final play, but in the end, the Florida Gators fell to the Tennessee Volunteers in college football’s Week 7 in Knoxville, sending the Orange and Blue to an even 3-3 overall record but just 1-2 against Southeastern Conference foes.

Certainly, the overtime loss was a gut punch for Billy Napier — whose team held a two-score lead in the second half before losing their starting quarterback to a season-ending injury — there were plenty of bright spots in the game for Florida fans. The defense put on its best performance of the season, which kept the Gators on pace with a top-10 team for 60-plus minutes.

While some of the human re-ranks have not been kind to Florida following the rivalry loss, the computer models have been much more friendly. That includes ESPN’s SP+ which saw the Gators slide but still maintain their spot among the top 25 teams in the nation.

Florida football’s SP+ ranking, rating

Last week, Napier and Co. were ranked 23rd out of 134 Football Bowl Subdivision schools, with an overall rating of 14.2. After the Week 7 loss, Florida is now ranked No. 25 with a 12.6 overall rating.

The special teams unit, which spent a few weeks as the top-rated corps in the country a few weeks ago, slipped again from No. 8 to No. 13 after a performance against Tennessee that left something to be desired.

On offense, the team moved down from No. 10 with a 38.0 rating to No. 17 with a 35.7 rating while the defense bumped up from No. 49 to No. 46 with a 23.2 rating.

SP+ Top 10 Teams

The Texas Longhorns remain in the top spot in this week’s SP+ rankings, followed by the Ohio State Buckeyes, Alabama Crimson Tide, Ole Miss Rebels and Georgia Bulldogs rounding out the top five.

The remainder of the top 10 is occupied by the Penn State Nittany Lions, Oregon Ducks, Miami Hurricanes, Tennessee Volunteers 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.”

Coming up for the Gators

The Gators host the Kentucky Wildcats inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 19, for this year’s homecoming game. Kickoff is set for 7:45 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on the SEC Network.

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Gators leap in Football Power Index rankings despite OT loss at Vols

Even with a 3-3 record, the Gators are perched just outside the FPI top 25 after Week 7.

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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Florida football up a spot in 247Sports SEC Power Poll after Week 6

The Gators are still near the bottom of the SEC Power Poll but did manage to gain a modicum of ground with the UCF win.

Florida football earned a much-needed win at home last weekend in the Swamp over the UCF Knights, 24-13, to give the Gators a winning record for the first time this season at 3-2.

However, because it was a non-conference affair, Billy Napier’s tally against Southeastern Conference competition remains at 1-1. Nonetheless, the Orange and Blue saw a small improvement in 247Sports’ SEC Power Poll ahead of Week 7, in which it rose one spot to No. 14 out of 16 member schools.

The Texas Longhorns took over the top spot in the poll, while the Georgia Bulldogs moved up to No. 2 and the Alabama Crimson Tide — who were upset by the Vanderbilt Commodore on Saturday — fell from first to third.

Full SEC Power Poll results

1. Texas (17): +1

2. Georgia: +2

3. Alabama: -2

4. Ole Miss: +3

5. Texas A&M: +4

T-6. Tennessee: -3

T-6. LSU: —

8. Missouri: -3

9. Oklahoma: -1

10. Arkansas: +2

11. Kentucky: -1

12. Vanderbilt: +1

13. South Carolina: -2

14. Florida: +1

15. Auburn: -1

16. Mississippi State: —

Next up for Florida

The Gators head to Knoxville next week to resume Southeastern Conference play against the Tennessee Volunteers. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.

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Commanders have one of the NFL’s top rushing duos

The Commanders rank second in the NFL in rushing offense.

Maurice Jones-Drew played in the NFL for nine years, rushing for over 8,000 yards and 68 touchdowns. He once led the league in rushing and was a two-time All-Pro and three-time Pro Bowler.

These days, Jones-Drew is an analyst on the NFL Network and, each week, ranks NFL running backs in his “RB Index.”

Ahead of Week 6, Jones-Drew ranked the top five NFL rushing duos. MJD didn’t necessarily mean a team’s top two running backs, but it could also be the quarterback and top running back.

No surprise, Jones-Drew ranked Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry at No. 1. The Ravens have the NFL’s No. 1 rushing offense, averaging over 200 yards rushing per game.

Jayden Daniels and Brian Robinson Jr. of the Washington Commanders were also ranked in the top five, at No. 4.

Like Jackson and Henry in Baltimore, Daniels and Robinson make up a devastating lightning-and-thunder duo, with the young quarterback shiftily weaving his way through open space and the 6-foot-1, 228-pound back punishing defenders when running between the tackles and at the second level. Thanks to this pair, along with contributions from Austin Ekeler and Jeremy McNichols, the Commanders boast the league’s second-best rushing offense (178.4 yards per game) and have scored the most rushing touchdowns (13, four more than any other team) through five weeks. Daniels and Robinson have combined for nine of those scores. This team has rushed for more than 200 yards in three games, though Washington faces its biggest test yet this Sunday at Baltimore, which boasts the league’s best run defense (60.4 yards per game).

Daniels has been the key to this entire operation. We knew the reigning Heisman Trophy winner had that dual-threat ability coming into the league, but I don’t think anyone expected to see him absolutely torching defenses with his arm (ranking top five in several throwing categories) and legs this early in his career. Daniels is simply electric, and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury knows it. The rookie has executed the third-most designed runs (20) among quarterbacks this season, behind only Jackson (30) and Pittsburgh’s Justin Fields (22), per Next Gen Stats. He has been OK on those plays, but he’s most efficient in scramble situations, amassing a league-high 244 yards and a touchdown on 32 attempts (7.6 yards per carry). That ability to evade pressure in the pocket and pick up big gains on the ground is what has taken this rushing attack to the next level. Daniels’ 300 rushing yards is the most by a quarterback in his first five games since 1950 — breaking the record set by former Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III (241) in 2012.

The Commanders face MJD’s top duo on Sunday. Currently, Baltimore ranks No. 1 in rushing offense, with Washington right behind at No. 2. Can the Commanders slow down Jackson and Henry enough to allow Daniels and Robinson to put up big numbers on the ground?

 

Florida jumps up Football Power Index rankings after home win over UCF

ESPN’s FPI had a very positive response to Florida’s Week 6 win over UCF in the Swamp.

The Swamp hosted a battle between two Sunshine State college football programs on Saturday night, with the Florida Gators prevailing over the UCF Knights, 24-13. The win pulled [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag]’s squad over the .500 mark for the first time this fall.

Not only did the crucial home victory improve the Orange and Blue’s standing in the win column, it also gave the program a boost in some of the rating systems, including ESPN’s Football Power Index. After Week 6’s gridiron action, Florida rose 10 spots to No. 36 out of 134 Football Bowl Subdivision schools with a 7.2 overall rating.

That puts the Gators between the No. 35 South Carolina Gamecocks and No. 37 Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Florida is now given a 31.6% chance of winning six games this fall — up from 14.4% last week — along with a 0% chance of winning the conference, a microscopic 0.5% 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 5.0-7.0.

SEC teams in FPI

The SEC is represented among the top five by the top-ranked Texas Longhorns (28.1), followed by the Alabama Crimson Tide (3rd, 25.2), Georgia Bulldogs (4th, 24.4) and Ole Miss Rebels (5th, 23.1).

The remainder of the top 25 consists of the Tennessee Volunteers (6th, 21.5), Texas A&M Aggies (12th, 15.1), LSU Tigers (15th, 14.0), Oklahoma Sooners (17th, 13.2), Missouri Tigers (22nd, 10.5), Arkansas Razorbacks (24th, 9.9) and Kentucky Wildcats (25th, 9.5).

Next up are the Auburn Tigers (34th, 7.5) and South Carolina (35th, 7.4) before Florida appears in the rankings. The Vanderbilt Commodores (41st, 5.9) and Mississippi State Bulldogs (68th, 0.1) round out the SEC schools, respectively.

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.”

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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