Last Call for 9.23.25 – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida

Last Call – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.

First Shot

University of Florida’s national ranking held steady in the latest U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 rankings, while other Florida schools are on the rise.

UF, which was ranked the No. 5 best public university in the nation as recently as 2023, remained at No. 7 for the second straight year. UF tied for that spot with the University of Texas at Austin.

The new rankings follow a chaotic turn for UF when school officials hired University of Michigan President Santo Ono to take over as President, only to be overturned by the Florida Board of Governors amid a conservative backlash.

Meanwhile, both Florida State University and the University of South Florida jumped two spots to earn rankings of No. 21 and No. 43, respectively, in the best public university ranking.

In addition, Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University was named the best historically Black college or university for the seventh consecutive year. Florida Polytechnic University was rated the No. 1 best regional public college in the South for the fifth year.

Other schools being recognized in the Top 100 public university rankings include Florida International University at No. 46, the University of Central Florida at No. 57, FAMU at No. 92 and Florida Atlantic University at No. 100.

Read more on Florida Politics or dive deeper into the rankings at UF, FSU, FAU, FIU, Florida Poly, New College, USF and UWF.

Evening Reads

—“‘Your countries are going to hell’: Donald Trump airs his grievances at the U.N.” via Luke Broadwater of The New York Times

—“Why Democrats are talking up a state Senate election in Trump country” via Patrick Svitek of The Washington Post

—”RFK Jr. is running a dangerous experiment on all of us” via Ariana Aspuru and Noel King of Vox

—”The 37 deeply disturbing and dangerous lines from Trump’s autism news conference” via Chris Cillizza of So What

—“Billionaire surveillance enthusiast set to acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations” via Caleb Ecarma of Popular Information

—”Jimmy Kimmel and Charlie Kirk’s AI resurrection” via Taylor Lorenz of User Mag

—”DHS has been collecting U.S. citizens’ DNA for years” via Dell Cameron of WIRED

—”Miami Dade College Board vote sets stage for Trump presidential library downtown” via Claire Heddles and Clara-Sophia Daly of the Miami Herald

—”Florida got 160,000 requests to hunt bears, but many applicants plan to sit out” via Stephen Hudak of the Orlando Sentinel

—”AI is coming for parents” via Miranda Rake of The Atlantic

Quote of the Day

“The math seems to favor us.”

— Sierra Club Florida Chapter President Susannah Randolph, on conservationists’ wave of black bear hunt lottery entries.

Put it on the Tab

Look to your left, then look to your right. If you see one of these people at your happy hour haunt, flag down the bartender and put one of these on your tab. Recipes included, just in case the Cocktail Codex fell into the well.

Florida is home to a dozen of the strongest public universities in the U.S. — to celebrate, we recommend ordering one of the 12 Strongest Cocktails bartenders can serve.

It’s not as cool as the Library of Cocktails, but Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Cabinet are closing in on a Miami-Dade site for the future Donald J. Trump Presidential Library.

If Florida’s unemployment rate were an ABV, it would’ve just ticked up to Acorn Barnsley Bitter … here’s hoping for a return to radler territory in the next jobs report.

Breakthrough Insights

Tune In

Marlins hanging on to slim playoff hopes

The Miami Marlins try to extend a six-game winning streak and keep faint playoff hopes alive as they open a three-game series in Philadelphia against the Phillies (6:45 p.m. ET, FanDuel Sports Net Florida).

The Marlins (76-80) are four games out of the final wild card spot with six games remaining in the season. The Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres have already clinched wildcard spots, while the Cincinnati Reds and New York Mets are tied for the final spot. The Arizona Diamondbacks (one game behind), St. Louis Cardinals, and San Francisco Giants (both 3.5 games behind) are ahead of the Marlins in the standings. 

Philadelphia has already clinched the National League East

Miami sends right-hander Edward Cabrera (7-7, 3.57 ERA) to the mound against the Phillies. Earlier this season, Cabrera pitched one of his best games of the season against Philadelphia, striking out five and allowing just two hits and one run in 6.1 innings.

Philadelphia is scheduled to send Cristopher Sanchez (13-5, 2.66) to the mound. Sanches is fifth in the National League in ERA.

After the Marlins complete the three-game series, the team will conclude the regular season with a three-game series at home against the New York Mets.

___

Last Call is published by Peter Schorsch, assembled and edited by Phil Ammann and Drew Wilson, with contributions from the staff of Florida Politics.

Post Views: 0