At least in the NFL, you have an entire offseason to recover from it. No. 4 Ole Miss doesn't have that privilege. A week after getting its vengeance against The Bad Man, Ole Miss has to hit the road for its second consecutive matchup against a ranked team, and third in four weeks.
No. 21 Florida had its first real test of the season last week, and it passed. The Gators went on the road to face fellow unbeaten Auburn and won 44-39 in a shootout. New coach Jon Sumrall has gotten off to a great start to the season and has Florida fans excited about their program for the first time in a while.
While Trinidad Chambliss is the superstar that draws the most attention, the most inriguing matchup here could be at the running back spot. Florida's Jadan Baugh is one of the best in the country, as is Ole Miss' Kewan Lacy. There is some question about Lacy's status after he was banged up in last week's win, but if he can go, there won't be many games in college football that have a better matchup of running backs this season.
Ole Miss is looking to do something that hasn't been done in nine seasons: The Rebels are underdogs as they hit the road to take on the Gators this weekend, but if they can pull off the upset, it will be their third win over an AP-ranked team already this season. It would be the first time any team has picked up three ranked wins before the end of September since 2017 Clemson, and only the fourth time in the BCS/CFP era. The Gators could match their 2025 season win total here: The best way for a new coach to endear himself to his new fanbase is to win games, and Jon Sumrall has done a great job of it so far.
It also helps when you take over after an abysmal season, because the bar is pretty low! So low that the Gators are already a win away from matching last season's win total. The Gators finished 4-8 in 2025 and a win against Ole Miss would make them 4-0.
Florida does well at home against top-10 teams: The Gators haven't been as successful as they'd like in recent years, but they've done a great job of pulling off big wins at home all the same. Last season, No. 9 Texas came to town as a big favorite and lost to Florida in a game that effectively kept Texas out of the College Football Playoff. In 2024, it was No. 9 Ole Miss who fell in The Swamp.
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