USA TODAY Sports leaves Florida outside SEC's top contenders in 2026

After evaluating schedules and newly released depth charts, USA TODAY Sports predicted records for all 138 FBS programs last week.

College sports reporter Paul Myerberg and deputy editor Ramon Padilla have the Texas Longhorns winning the SEC, while the Georgia Bulldogs are projected to finish No. 2 in the conference; sitting a tier below the favorites are Oklahoma and Alabama. The outlet goes on to claim Ole Miss, Texas A&M and LSU are "definite playoff contenders."

Florida is notably left out of the elite group of SEC squads. Despite first-year head coach Jon Sumrall generating plenty of preseason buzz, the Gators were unable to crack the group of CFP playoff challengers. National expectations remain modest for Jadan Baugh and company, allowing UF to push through this mediocre outlook and become one of college football's surprise teams in 2026.

The Gators play four of the seven SEC foes USA TODAY Sports slates ahead of them in their rankings: Ole Miss and Oklahoma visit Gainesville, while the Gators travel to Austin for their Oct. 17 date with Texas and play Georgia in Atlanta on Oct. 31.

According to ESPN's Week 0 Football Power Index, the Gators have enough talent to make any conference matchup a formidable one. At No. 17 with 6.7 estimated wins, Florida is a team that can match up well with the superior SEC competition. 247Sports' talent rankings support this point, ranking the Gators No. 12.

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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: USA TODAY Sports leaves Florida outside SEC's top contenders in 2026