Florida men’s basketball moved up two spots to No. 36 on the latest KenPom rankings update.
The Gators needed double overtime to take care of the Michigan Wolverines on Tuesday, but the win caps off an undefeated three-game stretch of neutral site games for Florida. The Orange and Blue now sit at 8-3 with two non-conference games left in the calendar year. SEC plays starts in January.
The Pomeroy rankings use adjusted efficiency margin — the difference between adjusted offensive efficiency and adjusted defensive efficiency — to rank all teams. Florida checks in at plus-16.17, which means the team is expected to score 16.17 more points than the average opponent.
Of course, strength of schedule matters in college sports, and teams like Florida rarely play average opponents, especially once the conference schedule starts. Pomeroy ranks Florida’s schedule as the 54th toughest in the nation. The good news is Florida played a fairly tough non-conference schedule (56th), so there shouldn’t be a big dropoff once SEC play begins.
The two other metrics tracked by KenPom are adjusted tempo — possessions per 40 minutes — and luck. Florida plays one of the highest-tempo games in the country, coming in at No. 12 overall with an average of 74.4 possessions per game. When offense is your team’s biggest strength, it is good to have as many scoring opportunities as possible.
Next up for Florida is a matchup a home on Friday at 4 p.m. against Grambling State. The Tigers are ranked No. 319 overall by KenPom, so Florida will enter the game heavily favored. The game will be broadcast on the ESPN+ and SEC Network+ platforms.
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