College football rankings: Florida Gators enter top 10 of AP Top 25, Coaches Poll after Tennessee win

By Adam Silverstein
September 26, 2021
College football rankings: Florida Gators enter top 10 of AP Top 25, Coaches Poll after Tennessee win
Football

Image Credit: GatorsFB / Twitter

Coming off what wound up being an inspired 38-14 win over an SEC East rival in Tennessee on Saturday, the Florida Gators have entered the top 10 in the latest set of of college football rankings. Florida moved up one spot to No. 10 in the AP Top 25 and two spots to No. 9 in the Coaches Poll after barely moving in both sets of rankings following its loss to Alabama last week.

With top-10 teams Texas A&M and Ohio State both losing this week, there was movement to be had for UF, which is now the top-ranked one-loss team in both sets of polls. Arkansas, off its second top-25 win of the season over TAMU, jumped Florida in the AP Top 25 to become the No. 8 team in the country. Notre Dame similarly leaped UF in both polls after a ranked win over Wisconsin on Saturday.

The Gators were not ranked among the top 25 teams in the 2018 preseason poll but have been ranked among the top 15 in three consecutive preseason and postseason polls under head coach Dan Mullen. UF was No. 13/11 entering the 2021 season.

Alabama, the defending national champions remain the near-consensus No. 1 team in the nation. It received 58 of 62 first-place votes from the AP pollsters and 64 of 65 from the coaches. Georgia, Oregon, Oklahoma and Iowa remained unchanged rounding out the first five spots in the AP Top 25.

In the AP Top 25, Clemson fell an astounding 16 spots to No. 25 after its second loss of the season, while Texas A&M dropped seven to No. 15 after its first.

AP Top 25

1. Alabama (58)
2. Georgia (4)
3. Oregon
4. Penn State
5. Iowa
6. Oklahoma
7. Cincinnati
8. Arkansas
9. Notre Dame
10. Florida
11. Ohio State
12. Ole Miss
13. BYU
14. Michigan
15. Texas A&M
16. Coastal Carolina
17. Michigan State
18. Fresno State
19. Oklahoma State
20. UCLA
21. Baylor
22. Auburn
23. NC State
24. Wake Forest
25. Clemson

Coaches Poll

1. Alabama (64)
2. Georgia (1)
3. Oregon
4. Oklahoma
5. Iowa
6. Penn State
7. Notre Dame
8. Cincinnati
9. Florida
10. Ohio State
11. Arkansas
12. Ole Miss
13. Texas A&M
14. Michigan
15. BYU
16. Michigan State
16. Coastal Carolina
18. Oklahoma State
19. Clemson
20. UCLA
21. Fresno State
22. Auburn
23. Kentucky
24. Baylor
25. Wake Forest

For the first time in years, the Gators are represented on the voting panel with head coach Dan Mullen contributing as one of 65 coaches submitting votes. Others with State of Florida or SEC ties include Manny Diaz of Miami, Bryan Harsin of Auburn, Clark Lea of Vanderbilt, Gus Malzahn of UCF, Sam Pittman of Arkansas, Nick Saban of Alabama and Kirby Smart of Georgia.

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