Florida Gators aren't quite there in terms of respect, but they are getting closer

Florida Gators aren't quite there in terms of respect, but they are getting closer

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Florida Gators aren't quite there in terms of respect, but they are getting closer
Florida Head Coach Jon Sumrall, left, watches practice with referees at Heavener Football Complex in Gainesville, FL on Tuesday, August 11, 2026.
Florida Head Coach Jon Sumrall, left, watches practice with referees at Heavener Football Complex in Gainesville, FL on Tuesday, August 11, 2026. Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun

The college football season is just under three weeks away, and the Florida Gators are one of the more interesting teams.

The Florida Gators are one of the more interesting teams in all of college football. Head coach Jon Sumrall has the Gators in an interesting spot, taking over a very talented team without having seen much success since the 2020 season.

This year looks to be very interesting from a multitude of perspectives, especially since the Gators have a lot of fascinating talent, especially on offense. Going into the season, the Gators aren’t in the top 25, but were just outside of it.

Florida Gators just miss out on the top-25

In the top-25, there were five teams that received first-place votes. One of those was out of the top-five, with the Indiana Hoosiers getting eight votes and the Georgia Bulldogs getting zero.

While it’s disappointing that the Gators didn’t make the top-25, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise either. The questions outweigh any confirmed positives. Sumrall has done a great job in building up the roster. He maintained the recruiting class left to him by Billy Napier, currently has the No. 8 recruiting class, retained the majority of the big names on the roster, and added some talented players in the transfer portal.

The difficult part about the successes is simple: we don’t know how it’s going to end up working out. Sumrall has yet to coach a game for the Gators. We thought that Napier was going to be the guy as well, but that hasn’t manifested yet. Right now, it’s just a proof of concept. Once we see the Gators take the field against Florida Atlantic, that proof will come to fruition.

Things will be fun to watch with this Gators team, and they will vault into the top-25 with success.

This article was originally published on A to Z Sports. Read the full story here: Florida Gators aren't quite there in terms of respect, but they are getting closer

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