The Associated Press released its initial preseason AP Poll ahead of the 2021 college football season Monday, and the Florida Gators found themselves 13th.
The Gators finished the 2020 season in 13th after they finished an 8-4 season, but the team stood as high as sixth in week 14 before they finished with a trio of consecutive losses.
Since the final loss to Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl, Florida lost Heisman finalist quarterback Kyle Trask, first-team All-American tight end Kyle Pitts and second-team All-SEC wide receiver Kadarius Toney to the NFL, as well as wide receiver Trevon Grimes, offensive tackle Stone Forsythe and offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson.
Head coach Dan Mullen and his new Florida squad began the 2020 and the 2019 seasons eighth in the preseason AP Poll, meaning their 2021 preseason ranking of 13th is the worst since Mullen’s orange and blue debut in 2018 when the team started unranked.
Mullen and the Gators never finished a season higher than 2019, when they ended the year sixth in the final AP standings after a 36-28 victory over Virginia in the Orange Bowl.
Florida begins its season on Sept. 4 in the Swamp against Florida Atlantic.
Contact Ryan Haley at rhaley@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter at @ryan_dhaley.
Ryan Haley, a UF journalism senior with a sports & media specialization from Jacksonville, Florida, is Summer 2022's Engagement Managing Editor. He grew up playing a bunch of different sports before settling on golf, following Rory McIlroy and all Philadelphia sports teams. He also loves all things fiction, reading, watching shows and movies and talking about whatever current story or character is in his head.
