Florida football scored a crucial win on its homecoming weekend this Saturday, opening up the offense while displaying some tenacious defense to uncork a 42-20 rout of the visiting Kentucky Wildcats.
The victory puts the Gators back over the .500 mark with a 4-3 overall record and an even 2-2 mark in Southeastern Conference play. Things will get much harder after next week’s bye, but for now, there is plenty to rejoice.
While the ‘Cats have not been particularly sharp this fall, Billy Napier’s squad showed continued improvements on the field and did not skip a beat after losing QB1 Graham Mertz for the season. Freshman DJ Lagway led the charge, not just on the scoreboard but also up the postgame rankings as well.
Florida football’s FPI ranking, rating
According to ESPN’s Football Power Index, Florida moved up five spots from No. 27 to No. 22, putting the Orange and Blue back in the top 25 while its overall FPI rating improved by 2.6 points from 8.7 to 11.3 following the victory. That puts the Gators between the No. 21 Boise State Broncos and No. 23 South Carolina Gamecocks.
Florida is now given a 55.8% chance of winning six games this fall — up from 33.8% last week — along with a 0.2% chance of winning out, as well as a 0% chance of winning the conference, a microscopic 0.4% chance of making the College Football Playoffs, a 0.1% chance of making the championship game and a 0% chance of winning the national title. The FPI’s final record predicts currently sits at 5.7-6.93.
SEC teams in FPI
The top five programs in the rankings got a bit of a shakeup, with the Texas Longhorns (27.2 rating) falling to No. 2 overall after getting beat by the still-No. 4 Georgia Bulldogs (22.9) on Saturday. The Alabama Crimson Tide (23.2) are wedged between the two despite taking their second loss of the season, remaining at No. 3 while the Ole Miss Rebels (22.1) also stood pat at No. 5.
The Tennessee Volunteers (21.0), who beat ‘Bama in Knoxville, moved up a spot to No. 6 to wrap up the SEC teams in the top 10. The rest of the top 25 is represented by LSU Tigers (12th, 16.9), Texas A&M Aggies (14th, 15.7), Missouri Tigers (20th, 12.2), Florida and South Carolina (11.1).
The remainder of the conference schools in the FPI are the Oklahoma Sooners (29th, 8.7), Arkansas Razorbacks (31st, 7.7), Auburn Tigers (32nd, 7.4), Kentucky Wildcats (41st, 5.7), Vanderbilt Commodores (42nd, 5.4) and Mississippi State Bulldogs (60th, 2.0).
About ESPN’s FPI
“The Football Power Index is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team’s performance going forward for the rest of the season,” according to ESPN.
“FPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Projected results are based on 20,000 simulations of the rest of the season using FPI, results to date, and the remaining schedule.”
Coming up for Florida
The Gators are off next week due to their bye week. The next matchup for Florida will be against the Georgia Bulldogs on Nov. 2 in Jacksonville. That game will kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET and can be seen on ABC.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida climbs back into Football Power Index top 25 after Week 8 win
