The Alligator’s UF football beat reporters — Max Bernstein, Curan Ahern, Ava DiCecca and Riley Orovitz — ranked every team in the SEC from top to bottom, and the average ranking for each team determined our ultimate order.
For UF students, the Fall semester marks more than just the start of a new school year: It stamps the beginning of another football season in The Swamp. While the excitement is overwhelming, it can be hard for students to keep track of exactly who they will be cheering for on Saturdays and what kind of season they should expect the Gators to have.
Now, as teams and athletes await the NCAA’s eligibility rules for the upcoming athletic season, many programs are forced to question what players they may be able to roster in 2026. For example, Florida is looking to transfer guard Denzel Aberdeen to get his waiver for a fifth year approved.
Jon Sumrall and the Gators held their first fall scrimmage of 2026 on Saturday. While the coach was procedurally displeased, he said the scrimmage went well overall as the team preps for a Sept. 5 opener against Florida Atlantic. The biggest areas of improvement Sumrall identified following the scrimmage were procedural issues and space tackling.
A new era for Florida soccer kicks off Thursday evening on the road against UCF. Head coach Nick Zimmerman begins his first season in Gainesville and opens his Gator career in his home state as a Tampa native.
Starting Sept. 5 with a faceoff against the Florida Atlantic University Owls, the Gators will begin to host opponents at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium for the 2026-27 football season. With this, fans will once again combat the challenges of game-day parking. Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, the largest stadium in Florida, has a capacity of nearly 90,000 people. Fans, students, alumni, families, and more swarm The Swamp, driving parking demand even higher.
Fresh off a 2025 national championship and a 2026 Southeastern Conference regular-season title, Florida has become one of the prominent basketball programs over the last few years. Moreover, the Gators have lost just three home games in as many seasons, making the O’Connell Center one of the hardest college arenas to play in.
When the Florida Gators hit the road, plenty of students still want to experience a Gator game day with a crowd. Several restaurants and bars around Gainesville have become go-to destinations for students looking for a lively atmosphere, big screens and fellow Gator fans.
Tucked in between Saturdays in The Swamp and camping in front of the Stephen C. O’Connell Center for basketball games are national championship contenders, Olympians, rising stars and some of the most exciting sporting events on campus. Whether you’re looking for a fun new activity, an indoor escape from the Florida heat or your next favorite team, here’s what you need to know before every Gator season begins.
With three of Florida’s most historic rivals off the table for the upcoming season, UF faces a list of teams it has a varied past against. Here’s a definitive ranking of how much you should despise the Gators’ opponents this season.
With Florida football through six practices of fall camp, buzz has been building around the new-look offense the Gators will show under offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner. When asked to describe the offensive scheme, junior offensive lineman Harrison Moore dropped one word: “Explosive.”
Florida head coach Jon Sumrall spoke with the media following the Gators’ fifth practice of fall camp, and his message remained unchanged: Players have been elevating, and consistent reps have made play a lot smoother, but more work is needed to build competitive depth.
Though only one of Florida’s front-running young quarterbacks will be penciled in as a starter when the Gators kick off the 2026 season against Florida Atlantic on Sept. 5, the team has seen flashes of arm talent and leadership from both redshirt freshman Tramell Jones Jr. and redshirt sophomore Aaron Philo.
The Gators added two transfers while signing a seven-player 2026 recruiting class that finished ranked No. 2 nationally and is expected to make an immediate impact. They did all of that while not losing a single player to the transfer portal. According to On3's Softball America, the 2026-27 softball transfer portal cycle featured 862 players who officially entered the portal.
Despite a strong regular season that saw the Gators finish No. 8 nationally and host a regional, they consistently played down to their opponents' level. Florida dropped its season opener at Condron Ballpark to the University of Alabama at Birmingham, lost a weekend series to High Point in early March, suffered two losses to Jacksonville and dropped a game to Bethune-Cookman. Becoming more consistent against lesser competition will be one of the biggest keys to finding success next season.
Solutions by The State News
