The Florida basketball team is off to a 2-0 start to the 2024-25 campaign, having earned wins against the South Florida Bulls in the season opener as well as the Jacksonville Dolphins last Thursday. As a result of those victories, the Gators inched up the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll‘s update.
In the preseason rankings, the Orange and Blue came in at No. 21 ahead of head coach Todd Golden’s third year at the helm. Following the first week of NCAA men’s basketball action, Florida moved up to No. 19 overall.
That puts the Gators between the No. 18 Kentucky Wildcats and No. 20 Illinois Illini after two games.
SEC schools in the Coaches Poll top 25
The Southeastern Conference is represented by seven schools — including Florida — among the top 25 after the Texas Longhorns and Ole Miss Rebels dropped out from the preseason rankings.
The Alabama Crimson Tide (2nd) remains the highest-ranked among SEC schools, followed by the Auburn Tigers (4th), Tennessee Volunteers (9th), Kentucky Wildcats (18th), Florida (19th), Arkansas Razorbacks (21st) and Texas A&M Aggies (23rd).
Ole Miss held on to 60 votes and a de facto No. 27 ranking while Texas is right behind them at No. 28 with 54 votes. The Mississippi State Bulldogs also reeled in four votes this week.
Coaches Poll Top 25 Week 1 rankings
| Ranking | Team | Record | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kansas | 2-0 | 759 (21) |
| 2 | Alabama | 2-0 | 724 (4) |
| 3 | UConn | 2-0 | 702 (3) |
| 4 | Auburn | 2-0 | 660 (2) |
| 5 | Gonzaga | 2-0 | 651 (1) |
| 6 | Duke | 2-0 | 608 |
| 7 | Iowa State | 1-0 | 576 |
| 8 | Arizona | 2-0 | 516 |
| 9 | Tennessee | 2-0 | 502 |
| 10 | Houston | 1-1 | 488 |
| 11 | North Carolina | 1-1 | 456 |
| 12 | Purdue | 2-0 | 437 |
| 13 | Creighton | 2-0 | 385 |
| 14 | Baylor | 1-1 | 328 |
| 15 | Marquette | 2-0 | 308 |
| 16 | Indiana | 2-0 | 234 |
| 17 | Cincinnati | 2-0 | 230 |
| 18 | Kentucky | 2-0 | 182 |
| 19 | Florida | 2-0 | 179 |
| 20 | Illinois | 2-0 | 151 |
| 21 | Arkansas | 1-1 | 150 |
| 22 | Ohio State | 1-0 | 148 |
| 23 | Texas A&M | 1-1 | 99 |
| 24 | Rutgers | 1-0 | 84 |
| 25 | St. John’s | 2-0 | 79 |
Schools Dropped Out
No. 19 Texas; No. 22 UCLA; No. 25 Ole Miss
Others Receiving Votes
Texas Tech 75; Ole Miss 60; Texas 54; Xavier 38; Oregon 37; Michigan State 29; BYU 29; UCLA 18; UCF 17; Wake Forest 12; Saint Mary’s 12; Kansas State 9; Clemson 9; New Mexico 8; Dayton 8; North Florida 7; Maryland 5; Providence 4; Mississippi State 4; Nevada 2; San Francisco 1; Grand Canyon 1
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