Florida falls eight spots in AP poll to No. 12

Florida went from poised to being among the Top 3 in the nation to tumbling right out of the Top 10 in a matter of a few days.

After No. 1 USC lost to unranked Oregon State late Thursday night, the Gators needed only to beat lowly Ole Miss, a team that had nine straight SEC losses dating back to 2006, to most likely move into the AP poll's Top 3.

Instead, the Gators suffered a stunning loss to the Rebels and on Sunday were dumped out of the Top 10 and into a No. 12 ranking. Florida is ranked No. 13 in the ESPN coaches poll.

Florida coach Urban Meyer said Sunday morning his only concern is correcting the many mistakes Florida had against the Rebels and getting the Gators ready to play at Arkansas on Saturday. He insisted all Florida's goals remain intact.

"It's not the adversity or it's not injuries that you have to worry about happening,'' he said. "Those are all going to happen every year. In the history of college football, it's all happened. It's how a team, how a player, how an athlete, how the program reacts to it. Tough loss, devasting loss. however I think there are two good teams in our league with two losses already in the league. Vanderbilt and Kentucky are the only undefeated teams in the league and there is a lot of great football out there of course. Our focus is to correct mistakes and let's get ready to go on the road and get our fourth win.''

Here is the Top 10 of the AP poll:

1. Oklahoma.

2. Alabama

3. LSU

4. Missouri

5. Texas

6. Penn State

7. Texas Tech

8. BYU

9. USC

10. South Florida

Georgia, which was No. 3 before its loss to Alabama, is ranked No. 11.

Comments

[Pam Schutzler]

The only poll that really counts is the one at the end of the season. I believe that this loss will be a big wake up call and the team will do much better from now on. The GATORS will be #1 in January, when it really counts.

[Gader Homer]

that's right! we will win all the games we have left because urban meyer is the bestest coach in the entire world and timmy is the best qb in this galaxy!

all we needed was a wakeup call to give the other guys a chance!

now we're actually ready to face a team with a winning record!

GO GADERS!!!

[kyle]

good ole tebow will get us through this, one loss is nothing all those top 10 teams dont even belong up there, they will move down as we move right back up there. its not over by a long shot. we will be #1 once again.