Gators climb KenPom rankings after big OT win over Kentucky

The Gators gained some ground in KenPom thanks to the big overtime road win inside Rupp Arena.

Florida basketball ended the first month of the calendar year with a big payback victory over the Kentucky Wildcats, who beat the Gators in Gainesville to open the Southeastern Conference schedule. The overtime triumph on the road capped a push of late that has Todd Golden’s gang riding a four-game winning streak.

Following the win, the Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings saw the Gators rise five spots from our previous update to No. 31 overall. That nestles the Orange and Blue between the No. 30 St. Mary’s Gaels and No. 32 Clemson Tigers.

The Pomeroy rankings use adjusted efficiency margin — the difference between adjusted offensive efficiency and adjusted defensive efficiency — to rank all teams.

Golden’s gang has a margin of plus-16.97 (up 0.36 points) which means the team is expected to score 16.97 more points than the average opponent. They rank 13th in adjusted offensive efficiency (118.9) but 93rd in adjusted defensive efficiency (102.0).

KenPom also has Florida’s overall strength of schedule rated at plus-7.07, which is 34th in the nation; its non-conference schedule rating received a score of plus-1.36 which puts the Gators at No. 134.

The Gators will travel to College Station to take on the Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday, Feb. 3, for the first game of the new month. The matchup is set to tip off at 4 p.m. ET and can be watched on ESPN2.

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