College basketball rankings: Florida earns No. 1 spot in preseason AP Top 25 poll ahead of Duke, Illinois

Florida is ranked No. 1 in the preseason AP Top 25 men's basketball poll released Monday after earning 47 of a possible 59 first-place votes. It marks the first time since 2006 that the Gators will open the college basketball campaign as the preseason top-ranked team.

The Gators were widely expected to begin the season No. 1 after a key offseason of retention that saw Todd Golden's squad return four starters (Thomas Haugh, Rueben Chinyelu, Alex Condon and Boogie Fland) from a team that won 27 games during the 2025-26 season and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season.

The last time Florida debuted at No. 1 in the preseason poll was when the program was coming off its first national title and returned a nucleus of its team, including Corey Brewer, Al Horford, Joakim Noah and Taurean Green. Florida went on to win its second consecutive title after opening the season at No. 1

Florida remains one of two programs — with UConn being the other — to win back-to-back national titles this century. The Gators will have an opportunity to make it two championships in three seasons if Florida is the…

Original source: https://www.cbssports.com/