After spending the first three weeks of the season ranked 16th on the Athletic’s weekly SEC vibe check, the Florida Gators have moved up two spots to No. 14 following a 17-point win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
It’s a somewhat hollow victory for Florida, though, as MSU has spent most of the season ranked in the bottom three of the conference. With several top-25 left on the schedule, this could be the high point for Florida football.
“This result did not change the fundamentals of the situation,” college football writer Seth Emerson wrote. “It did show, well, that there’s some life in the Gators, that they haven’t packed it in despite the noise about the seemingly inevitable.
“Maybe it says something about Billy Napier, his staff and his players. Or maybe it just says something about the team they beat. Either way, let’s push the vibes up in Gainesville because while change may be inevitable — and change is exciting — the present isn’t one to write off just yet.”
Emerson is still projecting this to be the final season of the Billy Napier era in Gainesville, but at least called the Gators a “competent team” against the likes of Mississippi State and FCS Samford.
It’s hard to see Florida moving any higher than No. 14 on this list with no game scheduled for Week 5. A win over UCF the following week would send the vibes skyrocketing up, but let’s take things one week at a time.
Week 4 SEC vibe check rankings
Tennessee Volunteers (4-0, 1-0 SEC)
Texas Longhorns (4-0, 0-0)
Ole Miss Rebels (4-0, 0-0)
Alabama Crimson Tide (3-0, 0-0)
Georgia Bulldogs (3-0, 1-0)
Missouri Tigers (4-0, 1-0)
Vanderbilt Commodores (2-2, 0-1)
Texas A&M Aggies (3-1, 1-0)
South Carolina Gamecocks (3-1, 1-1)
Kentucky Wildcats (2-2, 0-2)
Arkansas Razorbacks (3-1, 1-0)
LSU Tigers (3-1, 1-0)
Oklahoma Sooners (3-1, 0-1)
Florida Gators (2-2, 1-1)
Mississippi State Bulldogs (1-3, 0-1)
Auburn Tigers (2-2, 0-1)
Up next for the Gators
Florida does not play next week with its first bye of the season scheduled. The UCF Knights will come to Gainesville in Week 6 for a 2021 Gasparilla Bowl rematch. The Gators are looking for revenge after falling to the Knights, 29-17, under interim head coach Greg Knox.
UCF features the best rushing attack in college football through four weeks of play. The Knights average 375.7 yards on the ground and have 13 touchdowns on the ground. Meanwhile, Florida is ranked 107th of the 133 FBS teams in run defense after allowing 188.8 rushing yards per game.
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Publish date : 2024-09-22 12:50:00
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