Florida didn't tangibly get better because it beat LSU on Saturday in Gainesville.

The Gators did secure a huge win for their program, further silencing the Billy Napier dismissal noise following a recent athletics director vote of confidence and moving within one win of bowl eligibility.

If one was needed, the game was a reminder that Florida has athletes and talent and is capable of beating Ole Miss Saturday at noon at The Swamp. It's not expected nor an impossibility. But it also wasn't before quarterback DJ Lagway returned and Florida wrecked LSU's interior -- mainly guard Paul Magbenga -- in the second half on the way to the 27-16 victory.

The Gators have played reasonably well since a September rout of Mississippi State. They are 4-3 since then with an overtime loss at Tennessee and then two games affected by quarterback injuries.

Florida was beating Georgia by a touchdown when it had to shift to a third-string quarterback and eventually lost by two scores. Texas had the good fortunate of facing that third-teamer, Aidan Warner, in a full game that led to an expected result.

There's some collective teeth gnashing from Ole Miss fans that heightened after Florida finished off LSU's SEC Championship Game hopes. It's to be expected, as each game is a playoff contest from this point, and all fan bases are searching for the paths of least resistance to the 12-team field come December.

It's why I come with this fact and truth: Florida's personnel is the same as if it had lost, and if anything, the win provided Lane Kiffin more fuel to get his Rebels to take the Gators seriously when they return to practice today. Florida beat a team that beat Ole Miss. Simple enough. If even needed.

But, Florida didn't get better just because it won. Ole Miss got better this weekend by having the week off, nursing injuries, getting more time to come off the Georgia high and avoid the recovery from an SEC Saturday physically.

Florida, meanwhile, has to come off that high now, with Ole Miss a week away. And while the Gators are a win from a bowl, Florida State poses the much easier task of the remaining two games. The Seminoles haven't scored more than 16 points in a game since August 24.

The Gators, physically, have to recover from 138 combined plays against the Tigers while Ole Miss sat around and didn't experience a bunch of collisions. Oddly, Florida ran only 45 plays in the win, but LSU couldn't make much hay with 93 plays.

UF quarterback DJ Lagway was a gamer and did enough, but he didn't look particularly mobile two weeks after a hamstring injury forced him out of the Georgia game.

He didn't take off and scramble once against LSU, and his only "rushes" were the kneel downs to end the game. Another week may help him get healthier, but Ole Miss provides his most difficult test to date as far as mobility.

FanDuel opened with Ole Miss as a 10.5-point favorite against Florida, and that seems about right, though betting lines aren't really score predictors.

The Rebels should win, and the Rebels should be in the playoff. That's true today, and that was true before Saturday night. If anything, a capable Florida team just has a little more of Ole Miss' attention.