Florida's path to move into the college football rankings

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Gators have several boxes they need to check during Year 3 under Billy Napier, which kicks off next Saturday against Miami.

Playing better defense. Having a winning season. Making a bowl game. Beating your rivals, especially the in-state schools. And, of course, defending The Swamp.

But there’s another important benchmark for UF to hit this year: becoming a top-25 team and, more importantly, finishing the season as one — or higher.

The Gators open the 2024 season on the outside looking in. They are unranked in the first Associated Press poll for the third straight year, receiving no votes.

Redshirt sophomore tight end Arlis Boardingham is not surprised by the rankings given Florida’s five-game losing streak to end the year and 5-7 record.

Nonetheless, the Gators being overlooked this fall “absolutely does” fire him up.

“To some point, we understand the sort of overlook we’re getting,” Boardingham said. “We didn’t finish great last year and we do have a tough schedule — but it’s nothing but fire. We have a lot of chances to prove them wrong and each game we’re going to approach it like that.”

After more than two decades of the Gators being a top-25 team to open almost every season, the past decade has seen them unranked to start the year more times than not.

From 1991-2013, Florida was not included in the preseason AP poll only once in 22 years (2003). In the last 11 years, UF has opened the season unranked six times (2014-2024).

“It’s pretty motivating,” redshirt junior receiver Kahleil Jackson said. “We’re starting the year with a big chip on our shoulder, so every game we’re going into we’re playing like it’s the last one.”

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Florida’s path into the College Football Rankings

The Gators have climbed into the top 25 in each of Napier’s first two years after opening the season unranked. Following their upset over No. 7 Utah in the 2022 opener, they shot up to No. 12 in the AP poll but lost the next week to No. 20 Kentucky.

Florida spent three weeks in the top 25 during Napier’s inaugural season, dropping out after the loss at No. 11 Tennessee. UF jumped into the rankings last year after the win over Tennessee — once again ranked No. 11 at the time — and lasted for two weeks.

Like the past two seasons, the Gators will have multiple opportunities early in the year to move into the top 25. They open against No. 19 Miami, their first chance to make a statement to AP voters, followed by the SEC opener at home vs. No. 20 Texas A&M.

Wins over the Hurricanes and Aggies could vault Florida into the AP poll. If the Gators split those games, they will likely need a 4-1 start with wins over Samford, Mississippi State and UCF to earn a spot in the rankings before traveling to No. 15 Tennessee.

A loss at Rocky Top could knock them back out unless they’re undefeated going into that game. However, that’s just how UF can climb into the top 25. After the first half of the schedule, the challenge will be closing out the season as a ranked team.

Florida plays five preseason top-15 teams in November, including two in the top five (No. 1 Georgia and No. 4 Texas in back-to-back weeks), two more in the top 10 (No. 6 Ole Miss and No. 10 Florida State) and No. 13 LSU.

In order for the Gators to finish the year in the AP poll, and the College Football Playoff rankings, they must avoid another five-game losing streak and find a way to win at least one matchup in November and possibly two.

Should that happen, Florida would prove a lot of oddsmakers and media members wrong in 2024. Vegas has the Gators’ win total at 4.5 in 2024, and they were picked to finish 12th in the conference at SEC Media Days.

“It’s disrespect,” junior linebacker Shemar James said. “We’re the University of Florida, a national brand. We see that as disrespect. But we can only prove ourselves right. It’s not about the naysayers. It’s about what we can put on that field and put on film and show.”