The Florida Gators have had a roller coaster of a season — losing to Kentucky for the first time in 31 years, beating LSU, getting blown out by Georgia and Mizzou and then coming from behind to beat South Carolina.

Still, at 7-3, it’s been a strong year for coach Dan Mullen’s squad, and they were rewarded with the No. 13 spot in the most-recent College Football Playoff rankings.

On a Tuesday night conference call, CFP chair Rob Mullens explained why the Gators were deserving of being the top three-loss team in the country:

Q: What was the thought process with the Florida Gators as the top three-loss team?
A: “Again, when you look at their resume, they’ve played a tough schedule. They’ve played four games versus ranked teams. Two of their three losses are to ranked teams, to Kentucky and Georgia. They’ve got the good win against Mississippi State, great win against LSU. So the last three weeks they haven’t been the same team, but obviously they bounced back with a win against South Carolina.”

The Gators still have a great chance to get to 10 wins by beating Idaho and a struggling Florida State team and then winning a bowl game.

Plus, with the No. 13 ranking, if they win out, there’s a good chance the Gators will be going to a New Year’s Six bowl game — a huge step up from last year under Jim McElwain.