2025 FLORIDA GATORS FOOTBALL PREVIEW - PATH TO THE 12 TEAM BRACKET

2025 FLORIDA GATORS FOOTBALL

The 2025 Florida Gators football preview & 12 team CFP prediction is brought to you by Scout Trout Elite Football Recruiting!

The 2025 Florida Gators football team looks primed to potentially make a run at a spot in the College Football Playoff 12 team bracket as they start the season ranked 17th in the College Football Now preseason top 25 rankings. The Gators will face one of the toughest schedules in all of CFB and will look to start the season off with victories over Long Island U and South Florida before heading to Baton Rouge to face-off against the 11th ranked LSU Tigers. The Gators will then face-off against top 25 in-state rivals Miami, as well as host the top ranked Texas Longhorns at home, before taking on top 25 ranked Texas A&M in College Station. Obviously, we will know much more about the Florida Gators after they get through this gauntlet of match-ups and how their play aligns to earn a seed in the 12 team CFP bracket. DJ Lagway was one of the most impressive HS quarterbacks on our board nationally and many across the landscape of CFB believe this will be his breakout season as the Gators are stacked with talent that bodes well for a return to national prominence. Lagway was able to help lead the Gators to a 4 & 0 record down the stretch of last season and his remarkable ability to take over a game with his arm or legs will be needed to help the Gators thrive, instead of just survive through their gauntlet of big time match-ups in 2025-2026. 

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2025 FLORIDA GATORS FOOTBALL PREVIEW

The preview for the 2025 Florida Gators football team features the Gators schedule, key contributors and projection from Scout Trout Elite Football Recruiting. 

The Florida Gators have been steadily building one of the most talented rosters nationally both through their recruiting efforts, as well as the transfer portal. Coach Napier was able to land one of our former number one overall WR recruits J. Michael Sturdivant who recently was a top target for both CAL & UCLA and will give DJ Lagway yet another downfield option in the loaded Gators offense. Sturdivant joins returnees Eugene Wilson III and Aidan Mizell & highly regarded freshmen Dallas Wilson and Vernell Brown III could have early impacts in the Gators aerial assault. RB Jadan Baugh returns after a breakout All-Sec freshman year & Senior Ja’Kobi Jackson, Treyaun Webb & Scout Trout 2023 All-American Anthony Rubio provide the Gators with one of the most talented backfields nationally. Coach Napier has always won utilizing a ground & pound scheme that uses multiple backs to effectively set up the play-action passing game and with a very stout offensive line returning this could be the year we see the Gators really start to blow the lid off of defenses offensively with the emergence of my dark horse Heisman Trophy contender DJ Lagway. The Florida Gators offensive line returns All-American OC Jake Slaughter who grades out as one of the top 2026 NFL Draft offensive line prospects for next year's draft and all five starters return. 

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2025 GATORS FOOTBALL PREVIEW

The 2025 Gators football defensive preview features a returning group that was one of the toughest defenses in the SEC down the stretch of last season. The Gators 2024 defense only allowed 17 points the last four games of the season and landed arguably the best defensive back in the 2025 recruiting class in Scout Trout All-American Drake Stubbs. The defensive front returns proven pass-rushers Caleb Banks, Tyreak Sapp, and George Gumbs Jr. who together amassed a total of 16.5 sacks last season. The Gators linebackers will feature the combination of highly athletic combo of Myles Graham and Grayson Howard, as well as Jaden Robinson and Aaron Chiles who were key contributors in 2024 for the Gators defensive efforts. Bryce Thornton returns after leading the Gators defensive secondary with three interceptions last season, as well as 41 tackles and Jordan Casteel also returns after amassing 55 tackles & 9 pass break-ups last season. When you add Sharif Denson & freshman phenoms Drake Stubbs and Latonia Hayward to the grouping, the safeties are one of the strongest areas on the Gators roster heading into the 2025 SEC gauntlet that awaits the Gators. Dijon Johnson, Devin Moore, Cormani McClain, and Micheal Caraway (Southern Miss) are proven corners that will need to step up this season by creating more turnovers for the Gators defense. All in all, the Gators are sound in every area across the board defensively and will look to repeat their stellar performances at the end of the 2024 season, as they have added many more NFL Draft prospects to their defensive weaponry. 

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2025 GATORS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

Check out the 2025 Gators football schedule below as we predict that the Gators will indeed be among the 12 teams in the CFP this season, as we believe some major upsets could be on the horizon! 

Aug 30 LIU
Sept 6 USF
Sept 13 at LSU
Sept 20 at Miami
Sept 27 OPEN DATE
Oct 4 Texas
Oct 11 at Texas A&M
Oct 18 Mississippi State
Oct 25 OPEN DATE
Nov 1 vs Georgia (in Jacksonville)
Nov 8 at Kentucky
Nov 15 at Ole Miss
Nov 22 Tennessee
Nov 29 Florida State

GATORS FOOTBALL RECRUITING

Gators football recruiting has been on a tear and were able to land Elite 11 QB & Scout Trout 2026 All-American Will Griffin early on in his recruiting process, as well as 2025 consensus All-American Drake Stubbs who will inevitably receive playing time as a true freshman. Along with many other top tier recruits, the Gators have amassed a team that is clearly ready to take the SEC by storm this season and well into the future as I believe that Will Griffin will also be a highly touted SEC QB, who one day could find himself in Heisman Trophy contention, like I believe DJ Lagway will be in this season. It has been a long time since the Coach Spurrier and Meyer era's that were arguably two of the greatest dynasties in college football history and the clock is ticking in Gainesville, Florida as the Gator faithful are expecting a prompt return to national prominence with the talent that has been amassed in Gator country. 

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2025 GATOR FOOTBALL PREDICTION

The College Football Now 2025 Gator football prediction is that the Gators will somehow find a way to make it into the 12 team college football playoff bracket, as they have a schedule that will rank among the nation's best at year's end. They will have to lose no more than two games and have the potential to register possibly nine top 25 victories, so possibly even a three loss Gators team could find their way into the bracket if they were to take down a Texas or a Georgia during their 2025-2026 campaign. When you look at the returning talent and newcomers on the Gators roster this season, you begin to see what could be another dynasty taking shape in Gainesville and the true test will come when the Gators travel to Baton Rouge to take on the top 25 ranked LSU Tigers. Coach Napier knows that setting the tone early this season will be crucial for the Gators CFP chances, as the stage is once again set to take the Gators much further than in year's past.