With the college sports world shifting its attention back to football as the summer gets underway, Florida remains a preseason top-25 program, largely thanks to the hype that follows sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway. A week ago, Lindy’s Sports released its highly respected preseason edition, and the Gators check in at No. 15 with a clear path to the College Football Playoff.
While SEC bias might be a real thing with national media coverage of college sports, Florida’s top-ranked strength of schedule and strong finish to the 2024 campaign warrant this kind of preseason rankings. Lagway is indeed one of the top signal callers in his class, and the Orange and Blue pulled off several upset wins with him under center as a relatively inexperienced true freshman. Lindy’s has him ranked No. 7 among college quarterbacks entering the season, behind players such as Carson Beck (Miami), Arch Manning (Texas), and Garrett Nussmeier (LSU).
The Gators will have plenty of chances to prove they belong inside the top 15, too. Lindy’s ranked the three teams listed above are inside the top 10, and they’re all on Florida’s schedule. After starting the season with home games against LIU and South Florida, UF heads to Baton Rouge and Miami Gardens to face No. 5 LSU and No. 10 Miami in back-to-back weeks. Then it’s back to The Swamp against top-ranked Texas, featuring Manning and Co.
Texas A&M and Mississippi State are both outside the top 25, with the latter being the lowest-ranked SEC team at No. 84 out of 136 teams. No. 9 Georgia is next on Florida’s schedule, followed by road games at Kentucky and No. 19 Ole Miss. Neither Tennessee nor Florida State is ranked inside Lindy’s preseason top 25, but a lot can change between now and November.
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