Florida didn’t play in Week 5 of the college football season, so the Gators held steady at No. 14 on The Athletic’s weekly SEC vibe check.
“A week off meant watching a certain coach lose unexpectedly, meaning that certain coach might not make the Playoff and thus could be available,” senior writer Seth Emerson wrote. “There is still the matter of the current coach, who faces UCF at home this week, which could be the last time the Gators are favored this season. Probably a good idea to go bank that win.”
The “certain coach” Emerson is referring to is, of course, Lane Kiffin of Ole Miss. Many in Gator Nation want Kiffin to be the next coach in Gainesville, but that assumes Billy Napier’s time is up. A win over UCF might not save Napier’s job outright, but it gets him closer to that preseason projection of four wins.
Emerson is also forgetting about a miserable Florida State team that fell to 1-4 this week against SMU. If Florida isn’t favored to win the season finale against FSU, then it might really be wraps for Napier.
The rest of the SEC vibe check is as expected: Alabama moved into the top spot following an upset over Georgia and Kentucky jumped into the top five after beating Ole Miss.
One interesting note from this week’s vibe check is that both South Carolina and Vanderbilt fell despite being on bye. The Gamecocks only dropped one spot, which typically means another team had a strong week, but Vanderbilt fell four places with Alabama looming on the schedule.
Perhaps the Georgia writer felt Vandy had a chance to upset the Tide before Kalen DeBoer’s group put the hurt on them ‘Dawgs…
Week 5 SEC vibe check rankings
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Alabama Crimson Tide (4-0, 1-0)
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Texas Longhorns (5-0, 1-0)
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Tennessee Volunteers (4-0, 1-0 SEC)
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Kentucky Wildcats (3-2, 1-2)
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Missouri Tigers (4-0, 1-0)
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Texas A&M Aggies (4-1, 2-0)
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Georgia Bulldogs (3-1, 1-1)
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Oklahoma Sooners (4-1, 1-1)
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Arkansas Razorbacks (3-2, 1-1)
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South Carolina Gamecocks (3-1, 1-1)
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Vanderbilt Commodores (2-2, 0-1)
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LSU Tigers (4-1, 1-0)
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Ole Miss Rebels (4-1, 0-1)
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Florida Gators (2-2, 1-1)
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Mississippi State Bulldogs (1-4, 0-2)
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Auburn Tigers (2-3, 0-2)
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida holds steady in The Athletic’s SEC vibe check while on bye
