Gators Ranked No. 7 in Final AP Poll
Tuesday, January 8, 2019 | Football
Florida finished inside the top 10 for the first time since 2012.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida football team closed its memorable first season under Dan Mullen with a win in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, and Tuesday it learned the final Associated Press Top 25 poll had the Gators ranked tied for seventh, their highest finish since the 2009 season.
This marks the first time UF finished the season inside the top 10 since 2012, when the Gators ranked ninth in the final AP Poll. In addition, Coach Mullen joined Galen Hall (1985) as only first-year head coaches in Florida history to finish the season inside the top 10.
Mullen is the third head coach in history to win 10 games in a debut season with a current Power Five program after inheriting a team that won less than five games the year prior. The other two to accomplish the feat were Stanford's Clark Shaughnessy (1-7-1 in 1939, 10-0 in 1940) and Auburn's Gus Malzhan (3-9 in 2012, 12-2 in 2013).
Meanwhile, Florida is one of five FBS teams that finished under .500 last year and won 10 games this season, and 2018 marks the second-largest turnaround in school history, in terms of win total, as Florida went 10-3 after a 4-7 season.
Mullen's constant "Gator Standard" messaging got through to his players as Florida reeled off four consecutive wins to close the season, coming back to defeat South Carolina at home, blowing out Idaho, defeating Florida State for the first time since 2012, and finally, beating Michigan for the first time in program history.
The four-game stretch to close the season was as good as we've seen from the Gators this decade. The Gators averaged 522.8 yards and 45 points per game over that span.
The closing stretch also marked the first time since 2008 Florida won three consecutive games by 25-plus points, as well as the first time since 2008 it scored 35-plus points in four consecutive games and 40-plus points in three consecutive games.
The Gators open the 2019 season against Miami (Fla.) on Aug. 31 in Orlando at Camping World Stadium.
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