Bye weeks tend to be a bit boring, at least for the college football rerank crowd. Not playing a game means a team’s standing can only move up or down if a nearby team makes a corresponding move. Florida’s one-spot climb to No. 55 on the Week 9 USA TODAY Sports rerank is a perfect example.
Florida’s been fighting to re-enter the top-50 race since a three-week losing streak ended during the last bye (Week 5). This is the closest the Gators have come to achieving that goal, but chances remain slim with three games against ranked opponents remaining. An upset win over No. 5 Georgia, No. 7 Ole Miss or No. 14 Tennessee would do the trick.
The flip side of that coin is losing to unranked Kentucky or Florida State could end all hopes of cracking the top 50 again.
USA TODAY Sports rerank Top 10
Indiana and Ohio State remain on top of the college football world, in that order. Texas A&M swapped places with Alabama, with the Aggies moving to No. 3, and Georgia rounds out the top five for the second straight week.
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Georgia Tech, Oregon, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss and BYU round out the top 10, with Miami (-3) and Notre Dame (-3) dropping out.
While there are five teams from the SEC now inside the top 10, only three others crack the top 25. Tennessee is firmly inside at No. 14, following a two-spot jump, but Missouri is trending down after losing a big matchup with Vandy. The Tigers fell five places to No. 18, and it would take running the table to reenter the College Football Playoff conversation. Oklahoma dropped even further — eight spots to No. 20 — after losing to Ole Miss.
Texas is the next closest SEC team to the top 25 at No. 30, followed by LSU at No. 35. The Tigers suffered a massive 14-spot plummet after losing badly to Texas A&M in Death Valley. Mississippi State worked its way back into the top 50 — No. 49 — by nearly pulling off the upset against Texas.
The other four SEC teams, including Florida, are outside of the top 50. Auburn is two spots ahead of UF at No. 53, South Carolina is down 10 spots to No. 67, Kentucky fell five spots to No. 79 and No. 82 Arkansas is at the bottom of the conference.
2025 Florida Gators USA TODAY Sports 136 team re-rank so far
Florida started the year just inside the top 25, nearly 10 spots below its preseason ranking in either major poll.
A 55-0 win over Long Island University in Week 1 didn’t sway the USA TODAY Sports re-rankers. The Gators climbed just one spot to No. 24 with a prove-it game against South Florida ahead. When USF upset Florida in Week 2, USA TODAY Sports dropped the Orange and Blue 16 places to No. 40.
Following another loss, to LSU, Florida dropped to No. 49 overall. After loss No. 3 to Miami, the Gators fell 15 spots to No. 64. Florida started its climb back up the rankings in Week 5, while on bye, albeit a one-spot ascent, but an upset victory over the Texas Longhorns sent the Gators up to No. 56 in the country.
Losing to Texas A&M in Week 8 led to an eight-spot drop.
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