College football rankings: Florida Gators enter Coaches Poll top 25 after bludgeoning FAU

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Image Credit: UAA

No brows were furrowed when the Florida Gators were left off preseason college football rankings lists. When a team is coming off a 4-8 season with sub- .500 campaigns in four of the prior years, it does not deserve the benefit of the doubt.

However, only one game into the tenure of new head coach Jon Sumrall, the Gators have already impressed voters enough to ascend into the top tier of the rankings following a 66-21 demolition of the FAU Owls on Saturday night inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

It has been exactly a year since Florida last appeared in the top 25; the question now is whether the team will be able to hold or improve its position, considering it is only two weeks away from opening the SEC slate at Auburn with a home game against No. 9 Ole Miss following. (The Tigers and Rebels both started the season with victories.)

UF has debuted at No. 25 in the Coaches Poll (tied with Virginia, which beat NC State) after entering the season as the 27th-ranked team overall (second in the “others receiving votes” category) in both the Coaches Poll and the AP Top 25, where it remains in that exact position.

Florida was only six points away from being ranked in the AP Top 25 this week.

The Gators were originally set to face five AP Top 25 opponents — four from the top 10 — two fewer than they had on their slate to open the 2025 season. After Week 1, there are 10 SEC teams in those rankings.