Florida football opened up the 2026 campaign — along with the Jon Sumrall era — with an explosive 66-21 victory over the FAU Owls in the Swamp on Saturday. As a result, the Gators saw some improvement in their Football Power Index numbers while holding steady in the overall rankings from last week.
The FPI measures team strength and is meant to be the best predictor of a team's performance for the rest of the season; it shows how many points above or below average a team is. Each team is assigned a rating that measures its true strength on a net points scale as well as expected point margin versus an average opponent on a neutral field.
Projected results are based on 20,000 simulations of the season using FPI and the schedule. Here is a look at how
Florida's numbers shake out after Week 1's results.
Where Florida football ranks in ESPN's Week 1 FPI
The Gators remain at No. 17 in ESPN's FPI rankings after Week 1 with a rating of 15.5 — up from 13.6 last week. That rating ties them with the No. 16 Ole Miss Rebels, who fell three spots in the rankings, and puts them ahead of the No. 18 Tennessee Volunteers (15.3), who also fell three spots.
The FPI now predicts Florida to finish this fall's regular-season schedule with a 7.1-4.9 record but a 0% chance of winning out. The chances of finishing with six wins or more got a boost up to 80.1%, while the odds of winning the conference fell one tenth of a percent to 2.0%. The Gators now have a 17.8% chance of making the College Football Playoff, a 2.0% chance of reaching the national championship game and a 0.8% chance of bringing home the title.
Football Power Index Week 1 top 25 rankings
- Texas Longhorns
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Miami Hurricanes
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Indiana Hoosiers
- LSU Tigers
- Oregon Ducks
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Texas A&M Aggies
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Texas Tech Red Raiders
- USC Trojans
- Penn State Nittany Lions
- South Carolina Gamecocks
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Florida Gators
- Tennessee Volunteers
- BYU Cougars
- SMU Mustangs
- Michigan Wolverines
- Pittsburgh Panthers
- Nebraska Cornhuskers
- Utah Utes
- Virginia Cavaliers
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida holds steady in Football Power Index after Week 1 win over FAU
