GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida men’s basketball team entered the Associated Press Top 25 at No. 24 on Monday, earning their way into the national ranking with seven wins in their last eight games. That stretch includes a victory against 12th ranked-Auburn at home and a road win at 10th-ranked Kentucky.
The top-25 ranking marks the Gators’ first under second-year head coach Todd Golden and the program’s first since Dec. 6, 2021. The Gators have broken into the poll during conference play for just the second time over the past five seasons, previously achieving a No. 22 AP ranking on Feb. 1, 2021.
Florida received 124 votes in Monday’s AP poll after notching just 19 in week 15’s ballot. The Gators are one vote ahead of No.25 BYU and 21 ahead of Virginia, who is the first team left off the list.
While Florida’s national ranking doesn’t have any correlation to the selection committee for the NCAA Tournament, the Gators’ rise in ranks indicates a strong resume which had Todd Golden’s squad as an 8 seed before Florida’s win over Georgia on Saturday, February 17th, according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s bracketology prediction.
“We’re in a great spot right now,” Golden said on Florida’s NCAA resume following their 81-65 win over No.12 Auburn. “But we got to control the controllables and worry about LSU. Just as quickly as we entered this really safe space and really good spot if you don’t take care of the games on your schedule that you should.”
Florida currently ranks No.28 in the NET rankings and is one of just six college basketball teams without a loss in quadrants 2-4, three of which rank inside the top 4 of the NET rankings.
GATORS’ RESUSME: 18-7, (8-4 SEC)
Quad 1: 3-7
Quad 2: 3-0
Quad 3: 7-0
Quad 4: 5-0
The Gators rank No.27 in KenPom while ranking No.9 in adjusted offense efficiency and No.2 in offensive rebounding percentage.
With just six games left in the regular season, it would take a meltdown for Florida not to hear their name called on Selection Sunday. The Gators will have an opportunity to add more quad one victories with two games against Alabama and one against South Carolina remaining.