It was a tough battle until the final play, but in the end the Florida Gators fell to the Tennessee Volunteers in Week 7 of college football in Knoxville, leaving the Orange and Blue with an even overall record of 3-3 but just 1-2 against Southeastern scored conference opponents.

While the overtime loss was a slap in the face for Billy Napier — whose team had a two-point lead in the second half before losing its starting quarterback to a season-ending injury — there were plenty of bright spots in the game for Florida fans . The defense had its best performance of the season, keeping the Gators in line with a top-10 team for over 60 minutes.

While some of the human realignments after the rivalry loss weren't exactly kind to Florida, the computer models were much friendlier. That includes ESPN's SP+, where the Gators slipped but still maintained their place among the top 25 teams in the country.

SP+ Rankings, Florida Football Ratings

Last week, Napier and Co. ranked 23rd out of 134 Football Bowl Subdivision schools with an overall rating of 14.2. After the loss in Week 7, Florida is now ranked 25th with an overall rating of 12.6.

The special teams unit, which was considered the top-rated corps in the country just a few weeks ago, once again slipped from No. 8 to No. 13 after a performance against Tennessee that left a lot to be desired.

On offense, the team moved from 10th with a rating of 38.0 to 17th with a rating of 35.7, while the defense moved from 49th to 46th with a rating of 23.2.

SP+ Top 10 teams

The Texas Longhorns remain atop this week's SP+ rankings, followed by the Ohio State Buckeyes, Alabama Crimson Tide, Ole Miss Rebels and Georgia Bulldogs rounding out the top five.

The rest of the top 10 is occupied by the Penn State Nittany Lions, Oregon Ducks, Miami Hurricanes, Tennessee Volunteers and Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

About SP+ predictions

“SP+ is intended to be forward-looking and future-oriented,” said ESPN. “It's not a resume ranking that recognizes great achievements or particularly bold planning – it's not a good predictive system.”

“It is simply a measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football. If you're lucky or unconvincing, your rating will likely go down. If you are strong and unlucky in defeat, it will probably go up.”

Coming for the Gators

The Gators host the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday, October 19th at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium for this year's homecoming game. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on the SEC Network.

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