College basketball rankings: Florida Gators rise in AP Top 25 once again, open at No. 6 in NET

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Image Credit: ESPNI

Expectations are only continuing to be raised for Florida Gators basketball in Year 3 under head coach Todd Golden. An extremely talented roster that brought back numerous key pieces from a year ago has aspirations far beyond making the 2025 NCAA Tournament, and through the first eight games, it appears as if the Gators have the opportunity to exceed even the greatest projections for the team this season.

Florida on Monday was ranked No. 13 in the fourth AP Top 25 poll of the regular season. (UF holds the same ranking in the Coaches Poll.) The Gators were listed No. 21 in the preseason poll, their first time opening a season ranked since before the 2019-20 campaign.

UF moved up five spots a spot after beating Wake Forest (75-58) and Wichita State (88-51) last week. This Gators team is the first to start 8-0 in 15 years and the first in program history to win all of those games by double-digit margins.

Florida on Sunday was listed No. 6 in the initial NET Rankings of the 2024-25 season. The NCAA Selection Committee uses those rankings — which largely evaluates quality of wins and losses — as part of their process in choosing the NCAA Tournament field. The Gators are the third-ranked undefeated team with two quality victories thus far.

Florida returns to the court on Wednesday hosting Virginia in the 2024 SEC-ACC Challenge before getting 10 days off. The Gators are set to play three of the top five teams in this week’s rankings over the remainder of the season, seven of the top 25 overall.

AP Top 25 — Dec. 2

1. Kansas (35)
2. Auburn (26)
3. Tennessee
4. Kentucky
5. Marquette
6. Iowa State
7. Gonzaga
8. Purdue
9. Duke
10. Alabama
11. Wisconsin
12. Oregon
13. Florida
14. Cincinnati
15. Baylor
16. Memphis
17. Houston
18. Pittsburgh
19. Illinois
20. North Carolina
21. Oklahoma
22. Texas A&M
23. Ole Miss
24. San Diego State
25. UConn