The Florida Gators Are the National Championship Threat We Never Saw Coming

The easy thing to do would declare Florida "back," just like we did with Texas and Miami over the course of the last few seasons as these proud programs found life and simply move on.

In truth, however, being "back" doesn't fully encapsulate what Florida did on Saturday. It also fails to fully capture what we're seeing and what it all means moving forward.

No, after what we just witnessed, the complete and thorough demolition of the hottest team in college football, the Gators deserve something more.

First, the final score. The Gators dropped a 50-burger and 498 yards on Ole Miss, beating the Rebels 52-28.

It's been years since Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, one of the sport's best, loudest venues, felt a renewed sense of life that has been long dormant.

The performance largely featured what we've seen all year. In some ways, we shouldn't be all that surprised.

Running back Jadan Baugh was once again dominant, running for 142 yards and three touchdowns. The Florida wide receivers, one of the deepest and most athletic in the sport, did what they've done for the past month.

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And Aaron Philo, the Gators unappreciated quarterback, did everything he was supposed to do and then some. While other quarterbacks in the SEC have largely dominated early headlines, Philo's early brilliance won't be understated much longer.

The defense was good enough against Trinidad Chambliss, which is saying plenty. While this version of Florida is likely never to be defined on that side of the ball, it certainly did its part to make one of the game's most explosive players uncomfortable.

The architect of it all, Jon Sumrall, has been animated since he arrived. And following the victory, when pressed on what this could mean, he didn't shy away.

"We came here to win championships," Sumrall said following the game. "But there's no reason in the world that shouldn't be the expectation at the University of Florida every year. So why wait?  I'm not real patient, you can ask my wife."

This was not the conversations we expected to have early on or ever with this team, and the expectations for Florida heading into the season weren't exactly sparkling. Given the way this blueblood has played in recent years, it's not hard to see why.

The days of Urban Meyer and Tim Tebow were long lost. Florida hasn't won more than eight games since 2019, and it's finished under .500 in four of those years.

This team hasn't just been average; it's been downright bad.

At the very least, one thing is clear after one month of football. The Gators are a factor in the SEC and one of the most dangerous teams in the country.

On a day that Georgia dominated Oklahoma and Texas toppled Tennessee on the road, it was Gainesville that delivered the biggest spectacle of all.

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Sure, the Bulldogs look like a problem once again. Kirby Smart appears to have another talented roster to work with, and that theme will carry forward. But Georgia has yet to have the kind of challenge that the Gators just easily walked through.

As for Texas, there's plenty to like. The Longhorns' defense looks legitimate, and the offense, led by Arch Manning, will likely continue to improve. In terms of explosiveness, however, the Gators have the edge.

Thankfully, the discourse and the comparisons to the conference's elite won't matter much one month from now. In back-to-back weeks, the Gators will play at Texas and against Georgia—games that are likely to feature enormous stakes that impact the conference and beyond.

Just a few short weeks ago, those matchups looked like seismic mismatches on paper. But now? Florida seems every bit up to compete in both.

Sumrall's team, of course, must reach that game of substance unscathed first. Look no further than how Ole Miss struggled to parlay the success from last week into this one.

The hype should be tempered some. That's not just the case for Florida; it's the reality for any team finding enormous success in the month of September.

With that acknowledged, Florida should also be taken seriously. The roster is overflowing with talent, and the offense has the pieces to push any team—no matter how good—to the brink.

If you want to declare Florida "back," go right ahead and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. This team has shown enough in a month of football to let the hope and optimism flow freely.

But why stop there? Think bigger than that. For now, the team has earned it.