Florida Gators basketball opens 2024-25 in AP Top 25, receives multiple SEC preseason honors

Basketball

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Image Credit: UAA

Expectations have been raised significantly for Florida Gators basketball in Year 3 under head coach Todd Golden. An extremely talented roster bringing back numerous key pieces from a year ago has aspirations far beyond making the 2025 NCAA Tournament, and preseason prognosticators agree that Florida should reach some of those heights.

The Gators on Monday were ranked No. 19 in the Preseason AP Top 25. It marks the first time UF will open a season ranked since before the 2019-20 season.

Florida was also picked to finish sixth in the SEC by the league’s coaches in their preseason poll, an improvement from recent years but certainly below where the program believes it can end the regular-season campaign.

While no Gators received votes for SEC player of the year, redshirt senior point guard Walter Clayton Jr. was selected for the Preseason All-SEC first team, and sophomore center Alex Condon was chosen for the third team.

Florida will open the 2024-25 season on Nov. 7 against South Florida in a neutral-site game as part of the Jacksonville Soprts Foundation Invitational. It’s first game against a power conference oonent comes Friday, Nov. 16 at Florida State.

Ranked opponents on the Gators’ schedule include No. 2 Alabama, No. 9 North Carolina in the Jumpman Invitational, No. 11 Auburn, No. 12 Tennessee (twice), No. 13 Texas A&M, No. 16 Arkansas, No. 18 Texas, No. 23 Kentucky and No. 24 Ole Miss. Six of those 10 games will be played away from home.

Preseason AP Top 25

1. Kansas (30)
2. Alabama (14)
3. UConn (11)
4. Houston (4)
5. Iowa State
6. Gonzaga (1)
7. Duke
8. Baylor
9. North Carolina
10. Arizona
11. Auburn
12. Tennessee
13. Texas A&M
14. Purdue
15. Creighton
16. Arkansas
17. Indiana
18. Marquette
19. Texas
20. Cincinnati
21. Florida
22. UCLA
23. Kentucky
24. Ole Miss
25. Rutgers