The Gators couldn’t have asked for a better bye week than the one it just got.
Florida (6-1) moved up two spots to No. 11 in the latest AP Poll released on Sunday afternoon, but that wasn’t the best thing to happen to UF during the break.
RELATED: Associated Press Top 25 | Coaches Poll
While Florida gets some much-needed rest before playing rival Georgia in Jacksonville this coming week, Tennessee and Kentucky both picked up their third SEC losses, meaning the Gators can virtually clinch a trip to Atlanta with a win over the Bulldogs (technically, Vanderbilt could still win the East even with a UF win over UGA).
As for some of its other rivals, Florida fans got an early Halloween treat by watching No. 9 Florida State suffer their first loss in heartbreaking fashion to Georgia Tech, causing the Seminoles to fall eight spots to No. 17. Meanwhile, Miami got obliterated by No. 6 Clemson 58-0.
The Gators were ranked as high as No. 8 in the AP Poll before losing their first game of the season to LSU in Week 7.
Like it did in the AP Poll, Florida moved up two spots in the Coaches Poll with the Gators now at No. 12.
Born and raised in Gainesville, Talal joined SDS in 2015 after spending 2 years in Bristol as an ESPN researcher. Previously, Talal worked at The Gainesville Sun.
