Gators Rise to No. 17 in AP Poll During Bye Week, Face No. 3 Georgia in Atlanta as Double-Digit Underdogs

The Florida Gators climbed three spots to No. 17 in the Associated Press Top 25 without playing a snap, using their bye week to rise in the poll released Sunday, Oct. 25. Their reward is the biggest rivalry game on the schedule: No. 3 Georgia on Saturday, Oct. 31, in a Florida-Georgia game that has left Jacksonville and moved to Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium this year. Sportsbooks have the Gators as double-digit underdogs.

Gators move up while idle

Florida (5-2, 3-2 SEC) moved from No. 20 to No. 17 in the AP poll, carried by the momentum of its 27-24 upset of then-No. 7 Texas in Austin on Oct. 17. The Gators are No. 20 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.

It has been a winding first season under head coach Jon Sumrall. Florida opened 4-0, including a 44-39 win at Auburn and a 52-28 rout of then-No. 4 Ole Miss in Gainesville, and rose as high as No. 8. Back-to-back losses followed, 45-17 at Missouri and 38-19 at home to South Carolina, and the Gators fell out of the rankings entirely before the trip to Texas.

The win in Austin came with backup quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. making the start in place of Aaron Philo, who missed the game with a shoulder injury suffered late in the South Carolina loss. Jones completed 22 of 35 passes for 155 yards and two touchdowns. Florida has not announced whether Philo, the Georgia Tech transfer who started the first six games, will be available against Georgia, and the bye week gave him an extra week to recover.

The comeback in Austin

The Texas win is the reason Florida is ranked again. The Longhorns led 17-3 in the second quarter after a Raleek Brown touchdown run, a field goal and a 63-yard punt return touchdown by Ryan Niblett. Florida then scored 24 straight points. Jones threw touchdown passes of 7 and 8 yards to Lacota Dippre to tie the game in the third quarter, Patrick Durkin kicked a 28-yard field goal for the lead, and Jadan Baugh ran 11 yards for a touchdown to make it 27-17. Arch Manning's 9-yard touchdown pass to Cam Coleman with 4:21 left pulled Texas within three, but Florida held on before a crowd of 103,989.

The Gators won by controlling the ball. Florida ran 81 plays to Texas' 50, rushed for 158 yards and held possession for 38 minutes, 11 seconds. Baugh carried 25 times for 91 yards.

Through seven games, the Gators are averaging about 39.6 points per game, a number inflated by early wins over Florida Atlantic (66-21) and FCS Campbell (52-3).

Miami stays No. 1

The top of the poll has a Florida flavor too. Miami (7-0) held the No. 1 spot with 59 first-place votes, ahead of No. 2 Ohio State (6-1), which received 10. Georgia (6-1) is third, followed by Indiana, Notre Dame, Utah, UCLA, BYU, Kentucky and Alabama. Texas, the team Florida beat a week earlier, is No. 11, and Missouri, which handed the Gators one of their losses, is No. 23.

Florida-Georgia leaves Jacksonville

For the first time since 1995, the rivalry will not be played in Jacksonville. Renovations at EverBank Stadium, home of the Jacksonville Jaguars, have sent the game on the road for two years: Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium hosts it this season, and Raymond James Stadium in Tampa will host it in 2027. The game is scheduled to return to Jacksonville in 2028 under a contract that keeps it there through at least 2031.

The game had been played in Jacksonville every year since 1933, except 1994 in Gainesville and 1995 in Athens, making the weekend an annual tradition for Northeast Florida. This will be the first meeting between the two schools at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, Oct. 31, on ABC, according to Florida's athletics website.

Double-digit underdogs

Georgia opened as a 9.5-point favorite at FanDuel and has since moved to 10.5 points at major sportsbooks including FanDuel and DraftKings, with the over/under listed between 55.5 and 56.5 points depending on the book. Prediction markets are a bit more generous to the Gators: Kalshi priced Georgia's chance of winning at about 78% as of the weekend.

The line reflects recent history as much as this season. Georgia has won five straight in the series, with Florida's last victory a 44-28 win in 2020. Last year's meeting in Jacksonville was the closest of the streak, a 24-20 Georgia win. The schools even disagree on the all-time record: Florida counts it as 57-44-2 in Georgia's favor, while Georgia, which includes a 1904 win over a predecessor school in Lake City, counts it as 58-44-2.

Georgia comes in off a loss

Both teams were idle Saturday, but they enter the week in different moods. Kirby Smart's Bulldogs (6-1, 4-1 SEC) were No. 1 in the country before a 27-24 home loss to Auburn on Oct. 17, their only defeat. Before that, Georgia had won its first six games, including a 20-17 win at Alabama, and quarterback Gunner Stockton, in his fifth year, returns as the starter.

Florida, meanwhile, is coming off its best win of the Sumrall era. The Gators have already beaten Auburn, the team that knocked off Georgia, though Florida's 44-39 win at Jordan-Hare came more than a month before Auburn's upset in Athens.

What's next

Sumrall's weekly availability and Florida's injury report this week should clarify whether Philo or Jones starts at quarterback. After Georgia, the Gators close with a demanding stretch: Oklahoma at home on Nov. 7, at Kentucky (No. 9) on Nov. 14, Vanderbilt at home on Nov. 21, and at Florida State on Nov. 27. A loss in Atlanta would leave the Gators at 5-3 with four games to play; a win would give Florida its second victory over a top-10 opponent in three weeks.