College football rankings: Florida Gators in Preseason AP Top 25 poll for first time since 2021

Football

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Image Credit: Anna Carrington, UAA

Expectations have been raised for Florida Gators football in Year 4 under head coach Billy Napier, especially with sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway in tow. An experienced, talented roster returning numerous key pieces from a hot end to the 2024 campaign has been acknowledged all offseason as a team that could surprise in 2025.

The Gators on Monday found themselves ranked No. 15 in the Preseason AP Top 25 after last week arriving at No. 17 in the Preseason Coaches Poll. It is the first time since 2021 that UF has been ranked ahead of a season after the program received 18 total voting points over the last three campaigns.

Florida opens the 2025 season in less than three weeks on Saturday, Aug. 30 against Long Island. It begins SEC play two weeks later when it visits LSU for a rare early season meeting on Sept. 13.

The Gators enter 2025 with the nation’s toughest schedule for the second straight year. This as the SEC decided to simply flip the home-away assignments from the 2024 campaign rather than create a fresh conference slate as it initially promised when introducing last season’s slate, which was supposed to serve as a one-year stop gap amid the additions of Oklahoma and Texas to the league.

Florida will face seven ranked opponents as part of its 12-game slate, including four top 10 teams: Texas (No. 1), Georgia (No. 5), LSU (No. 9), Miami (No. 10), Texas A&M (No. 19), Ole Miss (No. 21) and Tennessee (No. 24). Five of those seven games will be played away from home with only the Longhorns and Volunteers set to visit The Swamp as top 25 programs.

Preseason AP Top 25

1. Texas (25)
2. Penn State (23)
3. Ohio State (11)
4. Clemson (4)
5. Georgia (1)
6. Notre Dame
7. Oregon (1)
8. Alabama
9. LSU
10. Miami (FL)
11. Arizona State
12. Illinois
13. South Carolina
14. Michigan
15. Florida
16. SMU
17. Kansas State
18. Oklahoma
19. Texas A&M
20. Indiana
21. Ole Miss
22. Iowa State
23. Texas Tech
24. Tennessee
25. Boise State