Gators crack SP+ rankings top 20 after beating Kentucky in Week 8.

Billy Napier finally got the results he had been looking for on Saturday, and it could not have been timed any better.

Coinciding with Florida football’s annual homecoming weekend, the Gators defended the Swamp against the Kentucky Wildcats in Week 8 and ran up a 48-20 final score to earn their fourth win of the season and second in Southeastern Conference play.

 

The Orange and Blue witnessed the true beginning of the DJ Lagway era, whose arm pieced the ‘Cats defense with deep throws. The defense also came up strong for the squad including a pick-six to close out the scoring.

As a result of the key victory, Florida saw its stock rise significantly in the SP+ rankings from ESPN.

Florida football’s SP+ ranking, rating

Last week, Napier and Co. were ranked 25th out of 134 Football Bowl Subdivision schools, with an overall rating of 12.6. After the Week 8 win, Florida is now ranked 18th  an improvement of seven spots  with a 13.7 overall rating.

On offense, the team moved back from No. 17 with a 35.7 rating to No. 15 with a 36.1 rating while the defense inched up from No. 46 to No. 44 despite the rating falling from 23.2 to 22.8. The special teams unit, which spent a few weeks as the top-rated corps in the country at the start of the season, remained at No. 13 after a checkered performance against Kentucky.

SP+ Top 10 Teams

The Ohio State Buckeyes took over the top spot this week after the Texas Longhorns took their first loss of the season, falling to No. 2. The Ole Miss Rebels, Georgia Bulldogs  who beat Texas  and Oregon Ducks round out the top five, respectively.

The remainder of the top 10 is occupied by the Penn State Nittany Lions, Alabama Crimson Tide, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Tennessee Volunteers and Miami Hurricanes, respectively.

About SP+ predictions

“SP+ is intended to be predictive and forward-facing,” according to ESPN. “It is not a résumé ranking that gives credit for big wins or particularly brave scheduling  no good predictive system is.

“It is simply a measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football. If you’re lucky or unimpressive in a win, your rating will probably fall. If you’re strong and unlucky in a loss, it will probably rise.”

Coming up for Florida

The Gators are off next week due to their bye week. The next matchup for Florida will be against the Georgia Bulldogs on Nov. 2 in Jacksonville. That game will kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET and can be seen on ABC.