The 2026 college football season is quickly nearing its opening kickoff, and ahead of the nation's favorite fall game, the sports media has been in overdrive publishing its preseason content. Among them is ESPN writer David Hale, who recently ranked all 138 FBS teams into 19 distinct tiers. In his article, the Florida Gators landed among Tier 10, which he titled, "It has to get better. Right? Right?!?" "Credit to Oklahoma State and Florida. They laid down their shovels after woeful 2025 campaigns and started climbing out with new head coaches... Jon Sumrall has talked the talk this offseason, winning over a beleaguered Florida fanbase that has seen a revolving door of once-successful coaches hit rock bottom in Gainesville." While optimism is currently high in Gainesville entering the Sumrall era, the bar has been set low since Dan Mullen's departure, as exemplified by this particularly haunting stat. "Florida is 29-37 since Marco Wilson threw a shoe against LSU in 2020. That's half a game worse than Rutgers over that same span." Will the Gators finally break the curse of the shoe throw? The road to redemption begins on Sept. 5, when the Orange and Blue host FAU in the Swamp. Tier 10: It has to get better. Right? Right?!?
Florida Gators Florida State Seminoles Oklahoma State Cowboys South Carolina Gamecocks Syracuse Orange
Follow 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: Where Florida lands on ESPN's preseason college football tiers