The Florida Gators (13-0) enter 2025 ranked No. 6 in the KenPom College Basketball Ratings after a 13th-straight win to start the season.
Florida defeated Stetson by 40 points on Sunday, which has the Gators approaching a top-10 ranking on defense and still inside the top 10 on offense. nice bump in several statistical categories tracked by KenPom. A net rating of plus-27.63 is 0.27 points higher than the last time Gators Wire checked on Dec. 24.
Many college hoops experts and oddsmakers consider Pomeroy’s ratings to be the gold standard in the sport, and its reputation has lasted for more than 20 years.
“His ratings are derived from a proprietary algorithm, with the core centered on the Pythagorean calculation for expected winning percentage, made famous by baseball statistician Bill James,” ESPN explains.
“Pomeroy’s formula is designed to be purely predictive, with an emphasis on margin of victory. He factors in offensive and defensive efficiency, tempo and even luck, but does not, however, take into consideration injuries or emotional factors.”
SEC KenPom ratings
Auburn (plus-36.22, 1st) leads all SEC programs followed by Tennessee (plus-31.10, 3rd), Florida and Alabama (plus-24.82, 8th) inside the top 10.
Thirteen of the 16 SEC programs are ranked inside the top 50.
Texas A&M (plus-22.88, 14th) leapfrogged Mississippi State (plus-21.40, 23rd), and Kentucky (plus-20.28 26th) remains just outside the top 25.
Texas (plus-18.30, 33rd), Ole Miss (plus-18.26, 34th), Arkansas (plus-17.79, 38th), Oklahoma (plus-17.40, 39th), Georgia (plus-16.27, 46th) and Vanderbilt (plus-15.63, 48th) are the other top-50 programs in the conference.
Missouri (plus-14.67, 52nd) and LSU (plus-13.94, 57th) are just outside the top-50, with and South Carolina (plus-12.02, 66th) close behind.
Breaking down the KenPom ratings
| Date | Nov. 12 (Week 1) | Nov. 20 (Week 2) | Nov. 26 (Week 3) | Dec. 2 (Week 4) | Dec. 9 (Week 5) | Dec. 18 (Week 6) | Dec. 24 (Week 7) | Dec. 31 (Week 8) |
| W-L | 3-0 | 5-0 | 6-0 | 8-0 | 9-0 | 11-0 | 12-0 | 13-0 |
| NetRtg | +19.83 (20) | +20.74 (22) | +21.86 (18) | +25.33 (8) | +25.30 (8) | +26.50 (7) | +27.36 (7) | +27.63 (6) |
| ORtg | 117.2 (13) | 118.1 (11) | 119.5 (8) | 120.2 (9) | 121.9 (5) | 122.8 (7) | 122.8 (6) | 121.8 (8) |
| DRtg | 97.4 (49) | 97.4 (51) | 97.6 (49) | 94.9 (22) | 96.6 (29) | 96.3 (21) | 95.4 (17) | 94.2 (11) |
| AdjT | 73.2 (47) | 71.7 (72) | 70.4 (93) | 69.2 (125) | 69.0 (131) | 70.1 (83) | 70.4 (84) | 70.9 (78) |
| Luck | +.000 (117) | +.000 (182) | +.000 (188) | +.003 (181) | +.002 (187) | +.010 (178) | +.033 (125) | +.029 (143) |
| SOS Net | -4.16 (237) | -4.27 (239) | -3.79 (252) | -0.55 (189) | -1.28 (208) | +2.11 (102) | +.070 (130) | -1.05 (208) |
| SOS ORtg | 100.8 (265) | 100.0 (293) | 101.4 (303) | 103.2 (269) | 102.6 (319) | 105.6 (230) | +106.0 (204) | 105.0 (249) |
| SOS DRtg | 105.0 (198) | 104.3 (167) | 105.2 (164) | 103.8 (62) | 103.9 (87) | 103.5 (45) | 105.3 (83) | 106.0 (151) |
| NCSOS Net | -4.16 (237) | -4.27 (239) | -3.79 (252) | -0.55 (189) | -1.28 (209) | +2.11 (98) | +0.70 (139) | -1.05 (201) |
Since Gators Wire last checked in with KenPom, Florida’s adjusted offensive efficiency rating has dropped by one point per 100 possessions, and the defense is allowing 1.3 fewer points per 100 possessions. Those numbers translate to a two-spot dip in the offensive ratings and a six-spot jump on defense.
Florida’s adjusted tempo improved for a third straight week, improving by 0.5 possessions per 40 minutes. The Gators’ 78th ranking in tempo is the highest it’s been since the end of November.
After a preseason projection of 73.6 possessions per 40 minutes, Florida dipped as low as 69.0 earlier this month. The Gators are back inside the top 100 but still have work to do to crack the top-40 expectation set at the beginning of the season.
Florida was favored in most of its non-conference games this year, so its luck rating hasn’t deviated much from a baseline triple zeroes at the beginning of the year. At plus-.029, the number is almost insignificant, which is a good thing. High luck can mean a lower rating and negative luck can mean underperforming.
Strength of Schedule according to KenPom
KenPom’s strength of schedule ratings only considers the games played, and Florida hasn’t played the toughest non-conference slate by any means. After enjoying a positive net SOS for two weeks, Florida’s schedule strength is back in the negative after playing two Quadrant 4 programs. The Gators have now played the 208th-toughest schedule among Divison I programs and the 201st-toughest non-conference schedule.
Florida starts up conference play on Jan. 4 at Kentucky, followed by matchups with Tennessee and Arkansas over the following week.
Looking back at Florida’s 13 wins: four have come against top-100 programs, North Carolina (29th), Arizona State (55th), Florida State (74th) and Wake Forest (99th); six have come against opponents rated between 100 and 200, Virginia (101st), Wichita State (103rd), South Florida (179th) Jacksonville (181st), North Florida (187th) and Southern Illinois (197th); and three have come against opponents rated outside of the top 200, Grambling State (306th), Stetson (351st) and Florida A&M (353rd).
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