College basketball rankings: Florida Gators return to top 10 of AP Top 25, Coaches Poll

Basketball

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Expectations are only continuing to be raised for Florida Gators basketball in Year 3 under head coach Todd Golden. An extremely talented roster that has started the season hotter than any version of this team in decades reached another mark on Monday when the latest college basketball rankings were announced.

Florida returned to the top 10 of the polls during the regular season for the first time since Dec. 4, 2018. The Gators checked in up four spots to No. 9 in the AP Top 25 while coming in even higher at No. 7 in the Coaches Poll. UF opened the campaign ranked in the preseason polls for the first time since 2019-20.

Fueling the rise of Florida was a thoroughly dominant 87-69 trouncing of Virginia last week in the 2024 SEC-ACC Challenge. While the Gators have started a season 9-0 for the first time since winning the 2005-06 national championship, this 2024-25 group is the first in program history do so with every victory coming by double digits.

Florida is also listed at No. 7 in the NET Rankings, down one spot from last week. The NCAA Selection Committee uses those rankings — which largely evaluate quality of wins and losses — as part of their process in choosing the NCAA Tournament field.

UF returns to the court Saturday — for the first time in 10 days — against Arizona State at a neutral-site game in Atlanta. It is the team’s only game this week.

The Gators are set to play the three of the top five teams in this week’s rankings — a total of five times — over the remainder of the season along with four of the top 10 teams and seven of the top 25.

AP Top 25 — Dec. 9

1. Tennessee (58)
2. Auburn (3)
3. Iowa State (1)
4. Duke
5. Kentucky
6. Marquette
7. Alabama
8. Gonzaga
9. Florida
10. Kansas
11. Purdue
12. Oregon
13. Oklahoma
14. Michigan
15. Houston
16. Clemson
17. Texas A&M
18. UConn
19. Ole Miss
20. Wisconsin
21. Michigan State
22. Cincinnati
23. San Diego State
24. UCLA
25. Mississippi State