It is college football projection season and ESPN’s staff writer Bill Connelly has been all over the topic in recent days, putting together his SP+ rankings for the 2021 season now that the national signing day fervor has died down and we have a clearer outlook at what to expect in the fall.
UF lands at No. 11 on the list, tied with the Washington Huskies with a 21.2 rating. Only two fellow Southeastern Conference schools ranked higher, with the Alabama Crimson Tide unsurprisingly perched at the top while the Georgia Bulldogs are pegged at No. 6. The Texas A&M Aggies were the one other conference team to make the top 25, coming right behind the Gators at No. 13; the LSU Tigers and Auburn Tigers are rated at No. 26 and No. 28, respectively.
In case you have not used Connelly’s rating system before, he bases these projections based on three primary factors, weighted by their predictiveness: returning production, recent recruiting and recent history. With that out of the way, let us take a look at where the Florida Gators rank seven months ahead of the first kickoff.
Here is a look at the top 25 schools in ESPN’s 2021 preseason SP+ projections.
| TEAM | RATING | OFFENSE | DEFENSE |
| 1. Alabama | 30.7 | 44.2 (4) | 13.5 (4) |
| 2. Clemson | 28.6 | 40.9 (9) | 12.2 (3) |
| 3. Oklahoma | 28 | 46.6 (1) | 18.6 (16) |
| 4. Ohio St. | 25 | 46.5 (2) | 21.5 (38) |
| 5. Oregon | 24.2 | 41.0 (8) | 16.9 (9) |
| 6. Georgia | 24.1 | 39.7 (15) | 15.6 (5) |
| 7. Iowa St. | 23.1 | 41.5 (6) | 18.4 (15) |
| 8. Miami | 22.7 | 40.5 (11) | 17.8 (13) |
| 9. Wisconsin | 22.4 | 34.7 (36) | 12.2 (2) |
| 10. N. Carolina | 21.7 | 44.8 (3) | 23.1 (43) |
| 11. Washington | 21.2 | 39.8 (14) | 18.6 (17) |
| 12. Florida | 21.2 | 41.5 (5) | 20.4 (29) |
| 13. Texas A&M | 20.9 | 37.3 (21) | 16.4 (8) |
| 14. Penn St. | 20.5 | 36.2 (29) | 15.7 (6) |
| 15. Cincinnati | 20 | 36.0 (30) | 15.9 (7) |
| 16. Iowa | 19.7 | 31.4 (51) | 11.7 (1) |
| 17. USC | 19.6 | 39.9 (13) | 20.3 (28) |
| 18. Arizona St. | 18 | 37.1 (23) | 19.1 (21) |
| 19. Utah | 17.7 | 34.7 (35) | 17.0 (10) |
| 20. Texas | 17.6 | 38.5 (18) | 20.9 (34) |
| 21. UCLA | 15.6 | 41.2 (7) | 25.6 (58) |
| 22. Louisiana | 15.3 | 36.2 (26) | 21.0 (35) |
| 23. Michigan | 15.3 | 35.3 (32) | 20.1 (27) |
| 24. Ole Miss | 14.9 | 40.6 (10) | 25.7 (59) |
| 25. Notre Dame | 14.8 | 34.8 (34) | 20.1 (26) |
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