Beating the second-ranked team in the country was not enough for Florida basketball to pick up a vote in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll this week.
The Gators beat the then-ranked No. 2 Tennessee Volunteers on Wednesday but fell to unranked Kentucky on Saturday, losing whatever favor they’d won in the minds of the voters earlier in the week. In the end, the Vols fell three spots to No. 5 despite beating No. 23 Auburn, and Kentucky finished with 11 points in the poll, which is good for an unofficial No. 35 ranking.
For Florida, the win over Tennessee was a sign that the current squad could indeed play up to their full potential, but falling to Kentucky proved that a new standard hadn’t been set for the squad in the victory. The Gators are still a work in progress, and the coaches that vote in this poll know it.
As far as the rest of the Southeastern Conference, Alabama moved up to No. 3 overall, overtaking Tennessee as the SEC favorite to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Auburn fell outside of the top 25 after falling to UT and but received the 29th-most points in the poll and could easily get ranked by the next update. Texas A&M earned the same 11 points that Kentucky did, and Missouri round out the list of teams on the bubble with four votes.
Florida has victories over Tennessee and Missouri and lost to Texas A&M twice and Auburn by a combined eight points.
Take a look below at the full USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll update.
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Change |
| 1 | Purdue | 22-2 | 780 (15) | — |
| 2 | Houston | 22-2 | 765 (13) | +1 |
| 3 | Alabama | 20-3 | 728 | +2 |
| 4 | Arizona | 21-3 | 670 | +3 |
| 5 | Tennessee | 19-4 | 647 | -3 |
| 6 | Texas | 19-4 | 645 | +3 |
| 7 | UCLA | 19-4 | 594 | +2 |
| 8 | Kansas | 18-5 | 518 | — |
| 9 | Virginia | 17-4 | 505 | -5 |
| 10 | Marquette | 19-5 | 477 | +2 |
| 11 | Kansas State | 18-5 | 459 | -5 |
| 12 | Baylor | 17-6 | 453 | -1 |
| 13 | Iowa State | 16-6 | 451 | — |
| 14 | Saint Mary’s | 21-4 | 419 | +4 |
| 15 | Xavier | 19-5 | 396 | — |
| 16 | Gonzaga | 19-5 | 286 | -2 |
| 17 | Providence | 17-6 | 248 | — |
| 18 | Indiana | 16-7 | 207 | +4 |
| 19 | TCU | 17-6 | 206 | -3 |
| 20 | Miami | 18-5 | 192 | +1 |
| 21 | UConn | 18-6 | 125 | +2 |
| 22 | NC State | 19-5 | 83 | +7 |
| 23 | San Diego St. | 18-5 | 68 | +3 |
| 24 | Duke | 17-6 | 67 | +4 |
| 24 | Clemson | 18-6 | 67 | -5 |
Schools Dropped Out
Others Receiving Votes
[mm-video type=video id=01gqnamtcc7z2cq9yqtw playlist_id=01eqbz250mdknqvm5z player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gqnamtcc7z2cq9yqtw/01gqnamtcc7z2cq9yqtw-3ba3911def3cdc2d1ce2a297e4e42620.jpg]
[lawrence-related id=100968,100960,100945,100916,100914]
[listicle id=100633]
[vertical-gallery id=100631]
[listicle id=100951]
[listicle id=100876]
[vertical-gallery id=100874]
Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.