SI: Florida Gators Graded as No. 6 Most-Desirable Power 5 School
With the college athletics landscape continuing to be transformed, getting into some uncharted territories, Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde decided to figure out a system to rate all 69 Power 5 schools, at least those that will likely be involved in the Power 5 in 2023.
The ratings that Forde provided are meant to act as a benchmark and ranking to potentially see how a re-alignment would look if you take simply the top-rated teams and place them in the most profit-rich conferences. Both the Southeastern Conference and the Big Ten are the most profitable, for example.
The ratings took five categories into consideration: Football ranking, academic ranking, all-sports ranking, football attendance and broadcast viewership.
Though it does primarily focus on football - due to it being one of the largest money makers for the NCAA - the ratings do take into account other sports, as shown through the academic and "all-sport" rankings that Forde takes into account.
As far as the Florida Gators are concerned, the program graded out as the No. 6 most-desirable program, with a total rating of 58, adding together all of the rankings for each category. The lower the total number, the better. Ohio State, for example, came in at No. 1 with 33 total points.
For Florida, the program would rank third in the SEC, if you consider Texas (No. 4) joining in the next couple of years with Georgia ranking right ahead of Florida at No. 5.
Florida ranked 18th in football, 11th in academics, 5th in all sports, 12th in attendance and 12th in viewership.
The Gators have long been viewed as one of the hallmark programs within collegiate sports. They have consistently ranked high in many sports, including football, basketball, baseball and gymnastics, among others in recent years. That, of course, is unlikely to change anytime soon.
As the college athletics landscape continues to transform over the years, keep in mind which programs bring in the post attention, money and prestige. Those programs will likely be slotted in some of the most profitable conferences and ultimately will become the leaders in the college football, or other athletics, realm.
To read all about how Forde came up with each rating and to see the full rating list, click here.
Stay tuned to AllGators for continuous coverage of Florida Gators football, basketball and recruiting. Follow along on social media at @SI_AllGators on Twitter and Florida Gators on Sports Illustrated on Facebook.
