College football rankings: Florida Gators return to top 8 of AP Top 25 for first time since 2020

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Image Credit: UAA

It was hardly a surprise when the Florida Gators were left off preseason college football rankings lists, and after an absolute drubbing of what was previously the No. 4 team in the nation on Saturday, it is hardly a surprise that the Gators are soaring up the college football rankings. Despite understandably not being given any benefit of the doubt entering the season, Florida has gone from unranked to firmly in the top 10 after just four weeks of the 2026 campaign.

Head coach Jon Sumrall has the Gators off to a 4-0 start for the first time since 2019 on the back of the second-best offense in program history, as authored by offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner, junior quarterback Aaron Philo and junior running back Jadan Baugh, a legitimate Heisman Trophy contender. The history they have already made is too copious for this space — skim through it along with Only Gators’ takeaways from Florida’s 52-28 win over Ole Miss — but it cements that UF is a team with which even the best in the nation will need to contend over the remainder of the season.

The question now is whether Florida will be able to hold or improve its position, given that it has a meeting with No. 1 Texas ahead in three weeks on the road.

The Gators moved up 13 spots to No. 8 in the AP Top 25 after debuting in the poll at No. 21 last week and opening the season listed 27th overall (second in the “others receiving votes” category). Though Florida did pop into the Coaches Poll in Week 2, it is now firmly No. 8 in those rankings, moving up 14 spots in seven days.

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 4, the Gators are one of 10 SEC teams in the rankings, with five of those teams on the schedule, including four still to play, among them the top two teams in the nation.

AP Top 25, Sept. 20

1. Texas (58)
2. Georgia (3)
3. Notre Dame
4. Miami (FL)
5. Ohio State
6. Indiana
7. Alabama
8. Florida
9. Ole Miss [W 52-28]
10. BYU
11. LSU
12. Texas Tech
13. Utah
14. Iowa
15. Oregon
16. Mississippi State
17. Tennessee
18. USC
19. Oklahoma State
20. Houston
21. SMU
22. Boise State
23. UCLA
24. Kentucky
25. Missouri

Coaches Poll, Sept. 27

1. Texas (45)
2. Georgia (17)
3. Notre Dame (3)
4. Miami (FL)
5. Indiana (8)
6. Ohio State
7. Alabama
8. Florida
9. BYU
10. Texas Tech
11. LSU
12. Ole Miss [W 52-28]
13. Utah
14. Iowa
15. Oregon
16. Mississippi State
17. Tennessee
18. USC
19. SMU
20. Houston
21. Duke
22. Penn State
23. UCLA
24. Michigan
25. Missouri