Florida tumbles but remains in AP Top 25 after ugly loss to Georgia

Florida football narrowly avoided falling out of the AP Top 25 following its disappointing performance against Georgia, dropping eight spots in the latest rankings released Sunday.The Gators (5-3, 3-3 SEC) fell from No. 17 to No. 25 in the Associated Press poll after suffering a 27-8 loss to the Bulldogs at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Florida received 94 points, placing it just ahead of Northwestern, which leads the teams receiving votes with 79 points.Saturday's defeat was particularly costly for Florida, which committed four turnovers and allowed Georgia to build a 24-0 halftime lead. The Gators managed just 54 rushing yards and did not score until the fourth quarter. Georgia, meanwhile, climbed one spot to No. 2 behind Miami, receiving seven first-place votes.Florida remains one of 10 SEC programs in the rankings, although it is now the conference's lowest-ranked team. Georgia leads the league, followed by No. 8 Kentucky, No. 9 Alabama and No. 10 Texas. South Carolina, which defeated Florida earlier this season, entered the poll at No. 23.Elsewhere, Ohio State suffered the week's most notable decline, falling from No. 2 to No. 11 after losing to USC. The Trojans entered the rankings at No. 18, while Utah climbed three spots to No. 3 and New Mexico made its first appearance at No. 22.Florida returns to Gainesville to face Oklahoma on Saturday, Nov. 7, looking to avoid another defeat that could push it entirely out of the rankings.AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 9RKTEAMRECPV1Miami (62)8-012Georgia (7)7-133Utah (1)8-064Notre Dame7-155UCLA8-076Indiana8-147BYU7-188Kentucky7-199Alabama6-21010Texas6-21111Ohio State6-2212Ole Miss6-21213Texas Tech7-11314Wake Forest7-11415LSU6-21516Tennessee6-21617Houston6-21818USC7-2NR19Missouri6-22320Boise State7-12021Iowa6-2NR22New Mexico7-1NR23South Carolina5-3NR24Arizona6-22225Florida5-317First-place votes in parentheses.Others receiving votesNorthwestern 79, Oregon 55, UTSA 43, SMU 27, Virginia Tech 12, Duke 10, Minnesota 8, Liberty 4, Oklahoma State 3, Louisville 1Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida tumbles but remains in AP Top 25 after ugly loss to Georgia