Florida tops the AP preseason poll with four starters back
The Gators bring back four starters from a 27-win team, while reigning champion Michigan starts at No.
In brief
- Florida tops the preseason AP men’s basketball poll, released Monday.
- Duke is second and Illinois third, with UConn fourth.
- Only three teams received first-place votes.
- Michigan, the reigning champion, is ranked 16th after heavy turnover.
Florida leads the preseason AP men’s college basketball poll released Monday, and CBS Sports notes that the Gators have not begun a campaign at the top of this ranking since 2006.
The Gators’ case for No. 1
Of the 59 voters who could pick a team first, 47 chose Florida. Todd Golden’s squad won 27 games in 2025-26 and was given a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for a second straight year.
Continuity is the common thread. Four starters are back in Gainesville: Thomas Haugh, Rueben Chinyelu, Alex Condon and Boogie Fland. That keeps most of the lineup behind those results in place.
History offers a parallel. When the Gators last opened a preseason poll in the top spot, they were fresh from their first national title, and they went on to win a second one in a row. Only Florida and UConn have won back-to-back national championships this century. This season’s Final Four takes place in Detroit in April, so a Florida title run would give the program two championships in three seasons.
Florida starts its schedule in Tampa against in-state opponent Miami, which is ranked No. 14.
The top four compared
| Rank | Team | What stands out |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florida | Four starters back, 47 first-place votes |
| 2 | Duke | Four returnees from the team that held the No. 1 overall seed: Dame Sarr, Cayden Boozer, Caleb Foster and Patrick Ngongba II. Newcomers include recruit Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje and Wisconsin transfer John Blackwell |
| 3 | Illinois | First Final Four trip since 2005, led by first-team All-American forward David Mirković |
| 4 | UConn | Ended Illinois’ season in Indianapolis this spring |
Florida, Duke and Illinois were the only teams to receive first-place votes. Duke and Illinois combined for 12 of them.
Blackwell, the Wisconsin transfer, was named a preseason second-team All-American by CBS Sports, which put Mirković on its first team.
A bigger margin than last year
Last season’s poll was far more divided at the top. Purdue opened 2025-26 at No. 1 with only 35 first-place votes. Houston received 16, Florida eight and UConn two.
By comparison, Florida’s 47 first-place votes this time are a high total for the opening poll of a season, according to CBS Sports. Voters were more aligned on a single top team than they were a year earlier.
Where the questions sit
- Kansas and Texas Tech: both are ranked in the teens, and each has three players in eligibility limbo. Texas Tech’s trio is Donovan Atwell, Darrion Williams and Jamichael Stillwell, while Kansas’ Trey Kaufman-Renn signed only hours before the poll was announced and is seeking eligibility alongside Tre White and Melvin Council Jr.
- Michigan: the reigning national champion opens at No. 16 after losing four starters and head coach Dusty May. Five-star guard Brandon McCoy Jr. will miss the season with a torn ACL suffered this summer.
- Michigan’s returnees: Elliot Cadeau is the lone starter back from the title team, and Roddy Gayle Jr. could return if he is granted a fifth year.
Photo: Maria Orlova / Pexels
