Florida football cracks top-25 in updated 2024 preseason SP+ ratings

The Gators may not have received a vote in the Associated Press' top-25 rankings, yet at least one analyst – ESPN's Bill Connelly – believes Florida has the makings of a top-25 program heading into the 2024 season.Connelly, whose SP+ rankings account for several factors across the entire college football landscape, has the Gators as the No. 23-ranked team in his final updated SP+ ratings ahead of the 2024 season, released Tuesday on ESPN. The SP+ is a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency.The SP+ ratings are based on three main factors according to Connelly - returning production being the first and accounting for more than 50 percent of the SP+ ratings. With the Gators returning multiple starters from last season, including quarterback Graham Mertz, senior cornerback Jason Marshall Jr., senior running back Montrell Johnson Jr. and highly touted sophomore wideout Eugene Wilson III, the Gators benefitted in the ratings from the impressive number of returnin...