How Florida football earned CFP ranking in first season under Jon Sumrall

Surprise! Florida football made the Top 25 in the initial College Football Playoff Rankings released on November 3.The Florida Gators (5-3, 3-3 SEC) came in at No. 24 based on wins over CFP No. 7 Texas (27-24) and CFP No. 10 Ole Miss (52-28).Florida's strength of record also came into play, as the Gators have suffered losses to No. 2 Georgia (27-8), No. 18 Missouri (45-17) and No. 21 South Carolina (38-19). The ranking is the first for UF since finishing the 2020 season at No. 7 in the CFP poll.Florida is currently one of 10 SEC teams ranked in the CFP rankings. The Gators will have a chance to move up the rankings if they can go on a late season run, beginning Saturday, November 7 when they host Oklahoma at The Swamp (9:45 p.m., SEC Network).Florida then plays at CFP No. 7 Kentucky on November 14 before closing out the season hosting Vanderbilt (Nov. 22) and playing at rival Florida State (Nov. 21) in its first season under head coach Jon Sumrall."These games are valuable," Sumrall said. "How you finish matters. And you look down this last stretch, we got three conference games and a rivalry game at the end. We need to finish strong to create some positive momentum as we go into the offseason, to the future, to recruiting, etc."Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1.This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: How Florida football earned CFP ranking in first season under Jon Sumrall