After a monumental 52-28 victory over then-No. 4 Ole Miss on Saturday, the Florida Gators (4-0) have leaped up from No. 21 to No. 8 in this week's AP Top 25 Poll.
The 13-spot jump ties the third-largest in AP Top 25 Poll history and the second-biggest leap in Florida history. The largest was a 14-spot jump from No. 25 to No. 11 in 2015 after Florida defeated then-No. 3 Ole Miss 38-10.
2026 marks the first 4-0 start by Florida since 2019, where the Gators began 6-0 and finished the season 11-2.
"I believe in our team. I believe in the direction we're headed," head coach Jon Sumrall said on Saturday. "We still are not a finished product by any stretch of the imagination."
Florida is the fourth-highest ranked SEC team, and the conference had a nation-high 10 teams slot into the top 25 (No. 1 Texas, No. 2 Georgia, No. 7 Alabama, Florida, No. 9 Ole Miss, No. 11 LSU, No. 16 Mississippi State, No. 17 Tennessee, No. 24 Kentucky and No. 25 Missouri). The Gators face four of those teams in their remaining eight games (Texas, UGA).
The Gators will head to Columbia, Missouri, to face the No. 25 Missouri Tigers (3-1, 0-1 SEC) on Oct. 3 at 3:30 p.m. ET.
This is a breaking news story. Updates will follow.
Contact Max Bernstein at mbernstein@alligator.org. Follow him on X at @maxbernstein23.
Max Bernstein is a fourth-year sports and media journalism major and sports management minor. This Fall, he is a Sports Editor and a Florida Gators and Jacksonville Jaguars reporter at The Alligator. Now in his ninth semester with The Alligator, Max previously served in roles including Digital Managing Editor, Sports Editor, Assistant Sports Editor and Football Reporter. He has also made appearances on the Paul Finebaum Show. In the rare moments Max isn't working, he's usually with his girlfriend Reese, watching sports with his fraternity brothers or missing his family and his two cats.
