Florida basketball opens up the Southeastern Conference portion of its 2024-25 schedule on Saturday morning after running off 13 straight wins to open the campaign.
Coming into the new year, the Gators find themselves among the top 10 teams — and even top five in some cases — in the nation, alongside a few fellow SEC schools. It is a similar story in the NCAA Tournament outlook as well, in which Todd Golden’s gang is seeded highly entering the conference gauntlet.
On Friday, ESPN’s resident basketball expert Joe Lunardi released his latest college basketball bracketology, in which his bullish outlook for the Orange and Blue continued.
Florida’s ESPN bracketology seed, region
The Gators remain the No. 2 seed in the West Region (San Francisco) for the third straight week, where they are projected to play the No. 15-seeded UMass-Lowell River Hawks in Cleveland, Ohio. The No. 7-seeded Wisconsin Badgers are also slated in the same city and will face the No. 10-seeded San Diego State Aztecs in the opening round.
SEC teams in ESPN’s bracketology
The SEC boasts the most teams in the bracketology update with 12 of its 16 member schools included — down one from the last update. The top-seeded programs are the Auburn Tigers (No. 1, South) and the Tennessee Volunteers (No. 1, Midwest), followed by Florida (No. 2, West), the Alabama Crimson Tide (No. 2, East), Kentucky Wildcats (No. 3, Midwest) and Texas A&M Aggies (No. 3 South).
The Mississippi State Bulldogs are the No. 4 seed in the East while the Oklahoma Sooners (No. 6, West), Ole Miss Rebels (No. 8, West), Georgia Bulldogs (No. 8, East), Arkansas Razorbacks (No. 9, Midwest) and Texas Longhorns (No. 10, East) all earned main bracket seedings.
Texas is also among the last four byes while the Vanderbilt Commodores and Missouri Tigers are among the first four out, with Vandy being the first team out. Auburn holds the top overall seed in the bracket.
Next up for Florida
The Gators open up the SEC schedule against Kentucky on Saturday, Jan. 4, inside Rupp Arena. Tipoff is slated for 11 a.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.
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