ESPN is back with another tier-oriented approach to ranking college football teams, this time choosing to rank all 131 FBS teams, in which David M. Hale put the Florida Gators in Tier 8: Big Names, Bad Records. In addition to the Orange and Blue, Hale put other big-name programs Auburn, LSU, Penn State and Washington in the same tier.
While the name of Tier 8 seems like a fair assessment of the state of those programs, the fact that it’s the eighth tier of teams might be a bit jarring for Florida fans. Rest assured Gator Nation, there are 24 total tiers in Hale’s recent rankings. If you were to tell Florida fans last year after Dan Mullen was fired that they would be in a similar situation with teams like LSU and Penn State, I think they would take them.
Here is what Hale said about the Tier 8 teams in ESPN’s rankings.
Five college football blue bloods, who all recruit at a championship level. And yet, they finished a combined 29-35 last season, with only Penn State (7-6) managing a winning record. It’s hard to separate the sparkling sheen on these programs from the immensely average performances. FPI is impressed with Auburn (No. 11 in the preseason ranking), but Bryan Harsin could be abandoned at an I-85 rest stop any day now. LSU ranks even higher (No. 10 in FPI), but Brian Kelly’s dance moves might be better than his defense. Billy Napier hired a support staff that roughly equals the population of Vermont, and yet none of them are likely to figure out how to block Jalen Carter. The point is, don’t get distracted by simple th… ooh, that dog has a puffy tail!
Hale is spot-on with his assessment of these programs, in my opinion. Focusing on Florida, it’s nice to see Hale recognize how much Napier has put into his support staff, and he hasn’t even coached a game yet. That investment has paid off on the recruiting trail. Who would have thought I’d write that phrase six weeks ago. It’s time to see if that investment pays off on the field.
The Florida Gators open their season at home against the No. 8 Utah Utes on September 3 at 7 p.m. EDT on ESPN.
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