Florida Went From Zero Top-10 Votes to 64 in One Week

From the Edge of the Poll to the Top 10

Florida rose from No. 21 to No. 8 in the September 27 AP poll as 64 of 70 voters placed the Gators in their top 10. None of the 69 voters had ranked Florida that high a week earlier, and 14 had left it out entirely.

The shift followed Florida’s 52–28 win over then-No. 4 Ole Miss. The Gators ran for 302 yards and improved to 4–0. In the next day’s poll, their lowest vote was No. 15, just two places below their previous high of No. 13.

All 69 Returning Voters Moved Toward Florida

All 69 voters from the previous poll returned. The 55 who ranked Florida moved the Gators higher, and the 14 who left them out added them. The additional ballot came from Sarah Hughes, who put Florida seventh.

Chris Murray made the largest move among voters who ranked Florida both weeks, lifting the Gators from No. 23 to No. 4. Brett McMurphy and Pat Welter each moved them from No. 25 to No. 7.

Stephen Means went from leaving Florida out to ranking it second. His change cannot be measured as a jump in numbered places because an omission is not a No. 26 vote.

Most of the Gain Came From Voters Already on Board

Florida’s point total rose from 269 to 1,272, a gain of 1,003. Most of that increase came from voters who already had the Gators in their Top 25: their higher placements supplied 735 additional points.

The larger panel accounts for Hughes’ 19 points. The other 984 came from changes by returning voters, so Florida’s gain overwhelmingly reflects those voters raising or adding the Gators.

Florida’s No. 8 ranking now rests on broad support for a top-10 place. The remaining disagreement is how close the Gators belong to the leaders: six voters still placed them outside the top 10, while others ranked them as high as second.