Gators ranked top-20 in ESPN College Football SP+ Top 25
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Gators may have sputtered to a 6-7 record in Billy Napier’s first season but ESPN views them favorably heading into 2023. ESPN writer Bill Connelly released his offseason SP+ offseason top-25 rankings and the Gators came in ranked No. 20 in the country.
The Georgia Bulldogs came in as the No. 1 team with five other SEC teams also coming in ahead of the Gators. Alabama (4), Tennessee (6), LSU (7), Texas A&M (17), and Ole Miss (18).
Six of Florida’s opponents in 2023 are ranked inside the SP+ top-25. That list includes Georgia, Tennessee, LSU, Florida State (11), Utah (13), and Kentucky (24).
What are Connelly’s SP+ rankings and how are they calculated?
How the Gators were ranked
Connelly’s SP+ rankings take three factors into account. From the ESPN story:
1. Returning production. The returning production numbers are based on rosters I have updated as much as possible to account for transfers and attrition. The combination of last year’s SP+ ratings and adjustments based on returning production make up about half of the projections formula.
2. Recent recruiting. This piece informs us of the caliber of a team’s potential replacements (and/or new stars) in the lineup. It is determined by the past few years of recruiting rankings in diminishing order (meaning the most recent class carries the most weight). Beginning this season, I am also incorporating transfers — both the quality and the volume — in a different way. After last season’s transfer-heavy recruiting shift, I’ve got a bit more data for how to handle that. This piece makes up about one-third of the projections formula.
3. Recent history. Using a sliver of information from previous seasons (two to four years ago) gives us a good measure of overall program health. It stands to reason that a team that has played well for one year is less likely to duplicate that effort than a team that has been good for years on end (and vice versa), right? This is a minor piece of the puzzle — only about 15% — but the projections are better with it than without.
SP+ Top 25
- Georgia
- Ohio State
- Michigan
- Alabama
- Penn State
- Tennessee
- LSU
- Oregon
- Texas
- USC
- Florida State
- Clemson
- Utah
- Oklahoma
- Notre Dame
- Washington
- Texas A&M
- Ole Miss
- TCU
- Florida
- UCLA
- Kansas State
- Mississippi State
- Kentucky
- Wisconsin
