Tag: weekly

SEC Power Rankings: Mullen fails at Florida, Georgia to face Alabama in championship

Losing to Missouri and firing head coach Dan Mullen didn’t do Florida any favors in this week’s power rankings.

Saturday’s game against Missouri was Florida’s last chance to get out of the conference cellar. The Gators failed in overtime and said goodbye to head coach Dan Mullen. With the regular season coming to a close next week, it looks like the only team worse than Florida in the SEC is Vanderbilt.

Georgia is, of course, the best team in the conference and in the country. The Bulldogs and several other SEC teams faced fairly weak opposition this week in preparation for rivalry week. Florida did struggle a week ago against Samford, though, so many of these games served as a reminder for what is supposed to happen in an SEC-FCS matchup.

No. 2 Alabama and No. 21 Arkansas faced off, and the Razorbacks tested the Tide’s defense late. ‘Bama was able to stave off Arkansas and secure its spot in the SEC Championship regardless of the Iron Bowl outcome. Speaking of Auburn, the Tigers fell to South Carolina without Bo Nix in the final thriller of the week.

Vanderbilt did its best to play spoiler against Ole Miss, but Matt Corral and the Rebels were not going to be denied on the team’s senior night. Here’s how all 14 SEC teams stack up following Week 12.

Good, Bad and Ugly: Florida football’s ship continues to sink at Missouri

The Gators Wire gives its post mortem on the Missouri game — the final game of the Dan Mullen era.

Florida football lost an overtime nail-biter on the road against the Missouri Tigers on Saturday, putting its postseason hopes in peril and resulting in the dismissal of head coach Dan Mullen less than 24 hours after the defeat. The game overall was not what most fans expected, with the defense showing up to play against the best running back in the conference while the offense went completely limp against a poor Mizzou D.

The long story short in this one was that the Gators once again managed to seize defeat from the jaws of victory through a carousel of incompetency from its units. Sure, they were able to keep the Tigers’ running game at bay for the most part, but Florida gave up big plays in the air (and later on on the ground) and could not find any answers in its own once-vaunted ground assault. In the end, it resulted in an overtime loss and the end of the Mullen era.

The staff here at Gators Wire submitted their takes in a Sunday roundtable, which we present in our weekly Good, Bad and Ugly feature. Read below our respective post mortem of the final nail in the head coach’s coffin.

Here’s where the SEC stands in the Week 13 USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll

Five SEC teams remain in the top 25 after Saturday’s Week 12 action.

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Florida isn’t even sniffing the SEC ranks after a one-point overtime loss in Columbia against the Missouri Tigers on Saturday night, and the Gators need to win the season finale at home against FSU to even have a chance of going to a bowl game this year.

The rest of the SEC, however, had a bit more luck this weekend with many teams facing off against FCS competition. When it was all said and done, five SEC teams are ranked in the latest USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll.

Georgia and Alabama stand atop the poll at the No. 1 and No. 2 spot, respectively, and Ole Miss is also in the top 10, moving up two spots to No. 8 after a 14-point win over Vanderbilt. Texas A&M breezed by Prarie View A&M and moved up two spots to No. 14 as a result.

Kentucky was previously unranked but after a 56-16 win over New Mexico State, the 8-3 Wildcats are back in the top 25 at the final spot. Meanwhile, Arkansas, who fell out of the rankings received 67 votes (the most of any unranked team) after a hard-fought seven-point loss to the Crimson Tide. Mississippi State was third, receiving 42 votes after it followed up its big comeback win over Auburn with a blowout victory over Tennessee State.

Here’s the full poll after Week 12 action.

Full USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll:

Rank Team Record Points Change
1 Georgia 11-0 1,550 (62) –
2 Alabama 10-1 1,450 –
3 Ohio State 10-1 1,428 +1
4 Cincinnati 11-0 1,388 -1
5 Notre Dame 10-1 1,258 +1
6 Michigan 10-1 1,250 +1
7 Oklahoma State 10-1 1,210 +2
8 Ole Miss 9-2 1,049 +2
9 Oklahoma 10-1 1,010 +2
10 Baylor 9-2 977 +3
11 Oregon 9-2 864 -6
12 Iowa 9-2 722 +2
13 Michigan State 9-2 698 -5
14 Texas A&M 8-3 683 +2
15 BYU 9-2 675 –
16 Houston 10-1 572 +1
17 Pittsburgh 9-2 507 +2
18 Wisconsin 8-3 485 +2
19 Utah 8-3 478 +6
20 UTSA 11-0 475 -2
21 Wake Forest 9-2 404 -9
22 San Diego State 10-1 257 +1
23 UL-Lafayette 10-1 236 -1
24 NC State 8-3 196 –
25 Kentucky 8-3 91 +1

Dropped from the rankings:

No. 22 Arkansas

Others receiving votes:

Arkansas 67; Clemson 56; Mississippi State 42; Penn State 22; Appalachian State 20; Purdue 10; Coastal Carolina 9; Air Force 9; Oregon State 2

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Gators take another tumble in ESPN’s Football Power Index after loss to Missouri

The Gators dropped a few spots but remain in the top 25 of FPI.

Florida gave a much more solid defensive effort in Saturday’s game against Missouri, but an anemic offensive performance and an extremely questionable decision from coach Dan Mullen to play for overtime with over a minute left on the clock at the end of the game allowed the Tigers to pull off the upset by going for two in overtime for the win.

The loss drops the Gators to 5-6 on what has been an incredibly disappointing season, and the team finished 2-6 in SEC play for the first time since the league expanded in 1992. UF needs to win at home against Florida State next week just to reach bowl eligibility, and that doesn’t feel very likely after Saturday’s game.

ESPN’s Football Power Index continues to be higher on the Gators than it probably should be, as despite the losing record, the team still somehow ranks in FPI’s top 25. It dropped three spots after the Mizzou loss but still sits at No. 25 in the rankings.

FPI gives UF a 73% chance of winning its final game against Florida State and reaching bowl eligibility, and the team opened as fairly heavy favorites in Vegas once again. It’s hard to understand why, but the analytics and the oddsmakers remain somewhat high on the Gators.

Winning next week won’t change much about the way the season is evaluated by the decision-makers, and Mullen could be in trouble regardless of whether he can get this team to a bowl game. But Florida will try to keep its winning streak against FSU going in the Swamp next Saturday to close out the regular season.

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Sunday Hash: How the Tigers ultimately ate the Gators in overtime

Pat Dooley re-hashes Florida’s devastating overtime loss to Missouri on Saturday.

Pat Dooley takes a deep dive into Florida’s 24-23 overtime loss to Missouri Saturday night. By the way, Florida’s loss and FSU’s win Saturday means that the Gators will play their fifth straight game against a team with an identical record.

Methinks this season cannot end fast enough, but both Florida and FSU will be both be playing for bowl eligibility. Missouri earned a bow bid with the win over Florida:

10 important ahead of Florida’s meeting with Missouri on Saturday

Pat Dooley gives his breakdown of 10 things to know ahead of the Mizzou game.

Florida football fans never dreamed they would be here in the fourth season under Dan Mullen, needing a win in one of UF’s last two games just to become bowl eligible and the team likely playing for the head coach’s job.

And yet, here they are knowing that going to Missouri is never easy.

Still, for some reason, Florida opened as a 10-point favorite on the road against a team with the same record. It was set down quickly to 7.5 and is now back up to 8.5. What do the wise guys know that we don’t see? Because when we look at Mizzou, we see a team that has been disappointing but also fits the mold of how to beat Florida.

We’ll get to that as we take a look at one of three sets of Tigers in the SEC:

Scouting the Missouri Tigers ahead of Saturday’s must-win game

Here’s everything you need to know about Mizzou.

Florida won on Saturday against an FCS opponent in Samford, but it certainly didn’t feel like a win for anyone outside the locker room. The Gators gave up the most points in the first half in program history (42) and needed to come from behind and outscore the Bulldogs 42-10 down the stretch to earn a 70-52 victory.

UF now sits at 5-5 on the year, and it needs to win one of its final two games to reach bowl eligibility. First up is the Missouri Tigers on the road to close out SEC play.

Florida has won its last two against Mizzou but lost at home in 2018 in coach Dan Mullen‘s first season. The Gators will battle the cold Columbia, Missouri, weather against a team that also sits at 5-5 but is coming off a win over the same South Carolina team that pummeled UF two weeks ago.

Despite its uninspiring performance on Saturday, Florida sits as a 9.5-point favorite, which is shocking when you consider the way this team has played in recent weeks. It certainly seems like Mullen has lost the locker room, but he may be coaching for his job in these final two weeks, and winning this game could be the only way to save it.

Here’s what you need to know about this Missouri team.

Gators basketball sneaks into CBS Sports’ Top 25 And 1 after beating FSU

Colin Castleton led Florida basketball to a statement win over FSU on Sunday, and the Gators are now ranked.

After one week of college basketball, CBS Sports’ Top 25 And 1 rankings haven’t changed much. In fact, the top 18 teams remain unchanged, making Florida’s entry into the rankings all the more impressive.

The Gators took down 19th-ranked Florida State on Sunday for the first time in eight years. The upset victory moved Florida up to No. 26, effectively knocking FSU out of the rankings. The Gators join No. 10 Arkansas, No. 12 Alabama, No. 14 Kentucky, No. 19 Tennessee and No. 21 Auburn as the sixth SEC team in these rankings.

Colin Castleton led the team with 15 points, 16 rebounds and 6 blocks against FSU. He said after the game that the team played with all of their heart for Keyontae Johnson. Last season’s worst moment came in Tallahassee when Johnson collapsed in the middle of the court and was hospitalized. He has since become a bench coach of sorts for the Gators as he remains uncleared to play, and the team obviously loves ‘Coach Key.’

An emotional win over one of the program’s biggest rivals is a nice start to the season for Mike White‘s team, but there’s a lot of basketball to be played and some quality teams within the SEC. Now that Florida is inside the Top 25 And 1, they’ll have to work harder to move up in the rankings.

The Gators face Milwaukee on Thursday before heading to Fort Myers for a tournament that features No. 18 Ohio State.

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SEC Power Rankings: How far will Florida fall this season?

Florida is hopefully as low as it will ever be in our SEC power rankings this week.

Florida had an embarrassing performance against FCS Samford this week, and the Gators find themselves near the bottom of the conference in this week’s power rankings because of it.

Vanderbilt spared Florida from falling to the very bottom of the Southeastern Conference by taking a loss to Kentucky, albeit a less inspiring win than expected for the Wildcats. Mississippi State continued to play spoiler by upsetting No. 17 Auburn, and No. 15 Ole Miss beat No. 11 Texas A&M to shake up the upper half of the conference rankings.

No. 25 Arkansas barely left LSU with a win, but top-ranked Georgia rolled through Tennessee on the road. Alabama barely broke a sweat against New Mexico State and firmly controls the No. 2 spot in the SEC, and maybe in the country.

Missouri narrowly beat South Carolina which should give them the edge over Florida in Week 12. Here’s how all 14 SEC teams stack up following Week 11.

Here’s how The Athletic’s staff thinks Florida will fare against Samford

Florida’s loss to South Carolina was unexpected, but The Athletic thinks the Gators get back on track this week.

Florida couldn’t get it done against one of the worst teams in the Southeastern Conference last week as the Gators fell to South Carolina, 40-17.

Head coach Dan Mullen parted ways with defensive coordinator Todd Grantham and offensive line coach John Hevesy following the game. Mullen said that the moves came before the season’s end in hopes of energizing the team to a strong finish. First up is Samford, an FCS program that Florida is favored to beat by more than 30 points.

Anything other than a win would be disastrous for Mullen and company, but The Athletic’s staff sees Florida taking this one easily. Here’s what they had to say ahead of Saturday’s must-win game.