Florida’s rapid turnaround gained speed Sunday with a move into the top 10 in The Associated Press Top 25 poll.
The Gators vaulted from 21st to eighth following their 52-28 rout of then-No. 4 Ole Miss in Gainesville, Fla. The loss dropped the Rebels one spot behind Florida to ninth.
Florida stumbled to a 4-8 record last season and fired coach Billy Napier after seven games. The administration hired Jon Sumrall from Tulane in the offseason. Under Sumrall, the 2026 squad has already matched last year’s win total with its 4-0 start. The Gators are also 2-0 in the Southeastern Conference after opening league play with wins over Auburn and Ole Miss.
The top three in the rankings remained unchanged from last week after Texas, Georgia and Notre Dame all won. The Longhorns received 62 first-place votes from the AP’s media panel after edging Tennessee 20-17 in Knoxville. The Bulldogs earned six first-place votes for their 41-13 home blowout of Oklahoma. The Irish routed in-state rival Purdue 49-10 in West Lafayette, Ind. No. 4 Miami and No. 6 Indiana each received a first-place vote.
Ohio State pushed past the defending national champion Hoosiers into fifth. The Buckeyes blew past Illinois 42-19 in their Big Ten Conference opener, while Indiana held off Northwestern on Friday in its Big Ten opener.
Alabama and BYU completed the top 10.
Penn State dropped from 13th to out of the poll entirely after its fourth-quarter collapse at home against Wisconsin. Michigan, Louisville and Texas A&M also dropped out of the rankings. Oklahoma State, UCLA, Boise State and Kentucky replaced those four in the poll.
AP Top 25
1. Texas (62)
2. Georgia (6)
3. Notre Dame
4. Miami (1)
5. Ohio State
6. Indiana (1)
7. Alabama
8. Florida
9. Ole Miss
10. BYU
11. LSU
12. Texas Tech
13. Utah
14. Iowa
15. Oregon
16. Mississippi State
17. Tennessee
18. USC
19. Oklahoma State
20. Houston
21. SMU
22. Boise State
23. UCLA
24. Kentucky
25. Missouri