Napier's Thoughts on Gators' Preseason AP Poll Ranking

"Look these are all fun to cover, you know, but ultimately the game’s will be played this fall, and that will decide who ends the year ranked what," head coach Billy Napier said Monday. "We have work to do to get ready for those opportunities. So 20 days until we spot the ball, and I think we're focused on the work at hand, but hey, good to be ranked in the preseason. But we all know that those are projections, and we're going to have to go perform to earn those.”

Once again tabbed as arguably the nation's toughest schedule in 2025, the Gators will play six teams ranked on the preseason AP Poll with two inside the top five and two others inside the top ten. Only one of those games is a home game, and four of those games are back-to-back-to-back-to-back.

The Gators will travel to No. 9 LSU on Sept. 13 before a trip to No. 10 Miami on Sept. 20. After a bye week, Florida hosts No. 1 Texas on Oct. 4 before travelling to No. 19 Texas A&M on Oct. 11. Also on the schedule are No. 5 Georgia in Jacksonville on Nov. 1 and a trip to No. 21 Ole Miss on Nov. 15.

Of those six, Florida went 2-4 with wins over LSU and Ole Miss at the end of the season, which were the first two of a four-game winning streak to end the season. During that stretch, the Gators used a "spot the ball" mentality as motivation and are carrying that mentality into 2025.

"That was kind of our words for last year. It doesn't matter who we play. Spot the ball," quarterback DJ Lagway told Florida Gators on SI nearly a month ago his first SEC Media Day. "And, that's sort of our saying now, and now we're kind of saying, 'If not now, when,' like, when and where? it doesn't matter where we are, we spot the ball. It's kind of our mindset that took on when we went down that stretch. It doesn't matter who stands in front, they got to play the Florida Gators."

Florida opens the 2025 season on Aug. 30 at home against Long Island with kickoff set for 7 p.m.

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