For the sixth straight season, the Florida Gators succumbed to the Georgia Bulldogs in their cross-border rivalry game — this year played in Atlanta — in a 27-8 defeat that had far too many embarrassing moments for the Gators.
Following college football's Week 9 action, Bill Connelly released his SP+ update, with Florida falling to No. 44 in the overall rankings with an 8.2 rating after the loss to Georgia. That represents a 13-spot drop from last week's standings and a 2.4-point decrease from the previous rating.
The Gators also dropped five spots in ESPN's Football Power Index this week to No. 22.
Looking deeper into the numbers, Florida's offensive SP+ slipped two points to 31.5 and is now No. 33 in the nation, marking a nine-spot drop from
the last update. Meanwhile, the defense checks in at No. 49 with a 23.9 rating — a one-spot improvement and a one-point decrease — while special teams moved up a spot to No. 2 in the country while holding onto its 0.6 rating.
The SEC still has seven schools in the SP+ rankings' top 25 for the fourth straight week, headlined by top-ranked Georgia, followed by LSU (No. 4), Texas (No. 7) and Alabama (No. 8) among the top 10. The remaining top-25 representatives are Tennessee (No. 11), Ole Miss (No. 13) and Missouri (No. 17).
ESPN's Week 9 SP+ top 25 rankings
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida football freefalls in ESPN's SP+ rankings after Georgia loss
