Preseason Florida College Football Power Rankings

With a new season upon us, and fresh lies being told, someone has to offer an unbiased ranking of the state of Florida college football teams. No games have been played, so this is purely speculation based off of return production from last season, the records of each program, and a little expectation for what’s to come.

No sugar coating, lets dive in!

FBS Programs in the State of Florida: 7 (Florida Gators, Florida Atlantic Owls, Florida International Panthers, Florida State Seminoles, Miami Hurricanes, South Florida Bulls, and UCF Knights)

1: Florida State Seminoles

Ranking: Associated Press - N/A, AFCA Coaches Poll - 8th

Florida State is coming off of a 10 win season and has a lot of production returning (8 on offense, 8 on defense, 2 on special teams), coupled with a soft schedule (on paper), so FSU is favored to finish behind Clemson atop the ACC this season. The Noles have improved their high school recruiting this cycle and have been performing well in the Transfer Portal for a couple of years now (how could you not when you’ve been under .500 for four years in a row?). None-the-less, the Noles look like the team to beat in the State of Florida, and will remain so until dethroned.

2: Florida Gators

Ranking: Associated Press - N/A, AFCA Coaches Poll – Unranked, but received votes

Florida had a better record last season than Miami (by 1 win), in addition to the votes received (63) in the AFCA poll, are the only reasons I am placing them a spot above the Canes. The Gators will face off against Utah on Aug 31 (Thu) 8 PM, and could easily drop out of this spot with a loss in their opener on the road. After a night scrimmage at home against McNeese on Sep 9 (Sat) 7:30 PM, the Gators will be facing their first conference opponent as Tennessee comes to town on Sep 16 (Sat) 7 PM. Objectively speaking, they could easily be 1-2 after this initial slate of games.

3: Miami Hurricanes

Ranking: Associated Press - N/A, AFCA Coaches Poll – Unranked, but received votes

Miami left too much on the field against lesser opponents last season and have some ground to make up this coming year. With strong recruiting and portal additions, Miami looks poised to make the leap as they addressed all of their glaring issues at WR, LB, OL, CB and added quality depth at RB. We have a decent September schedule that should see us with a winning record for the duration of the month, but until shown otherwise, sadly, we’re running behind the other “big” programs in the state. Let’s hope for big strides from our newest additions.

4: UCF Knights

Ranking: Associated Press - N/A, AFCA Coaches Poll - Unranked

UCF went 9-5 last season and the Knights are looking to bounce back from a 2 game losing streak coming into the 1st game of 2023. UCF is stepping up to a Power 5 conference for the first time, a big move for sure, and they have been recruiting well.

5: Florida Atlantic

Ranking: Associated Press - N/A, AFCA Coaches Poll - Unranked

A new Conference and bigger stage. A new Coach in Tom Herman. A new era for Owls football. There is Plenty to look forward to in Boca, but on the grand scale the Owls are distant followers in the state when it comes to football.

6: South Florida

Ranking: Associated Press - N/A, AFCA Coaches Poll - Unranked

The USF Board of Trustees recently approved financing for a new on-campus stadium, and the Bulls are going to need every dime to compete with the rest of the State of Florida and teams around the nation.

⇨ $340 million approved

⇨ 35,000-seat on-campus football stadium

⇨ scheduled to open by fall 2026

7: Florida International

Ranking: Associated Press - N/A, AFCA Coaches Poll - Unranked

Not much to say about FIU right now... the best thing they have so far this season is Coach DVD and these sweet Miami Vice uni’s. Here's hoping that they can mount a formidable team for the duration of the season.

AP Top 25 - Not Released

Florida State – Unranked

Florida – Unranked

Miami – Unranked

UCF – Unranked

Florida Atlantic – Unranked

South Florida – Unranked

Florida International – Unranked

USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll - August 7, 2023

Florida State – 8th

Florida – Unranked

Miami – Unranked

UCF – Unranked

Florida Atlantic – Unranked

South Florida – Unranked

Florida International – Unranked

With “games being played”, we’ll revisit these standings each week over the course of the season.

Let us know your thoughts on the rankings in the comments below.