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Florida No. 1 in preseason AP Top 25; Kentucky starts at No. 23

The Florida Gators were the overwhelming pick to top the preseason AP Top 25 on Monday, receiving 47 of the 59 first-place votes from a panel of national media. It is the first time that coach Todd Golden’s bunch has resided on top since the final poll in 2025, after they had beaten Houston to deliver the school its third national championship.

Duke received 10 first-place votes and was second in the preseason poll. Illinois received the other two and was third. UConn and Arizona, each coming off a Final Four trip of their own, rounded out the top five of the preseason poll.

The Gators started last season at No. 3 but crashed out of the poll entirely by early January. They rallied to win the Southeastern Conference regular-season championship, only to get stunned by Iowa as a No. 1 seed in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

In an era of roster upheaval — some teams still don’t know who will be eligible as court cases play out — the Gators have the benefit of experience on their side. Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon, Rueben Chinyelu and Denzel Aberdeen all played on their national title team.

Aberdeen, back after a year at Kentucky, is among the players who’ve been granted another season of eligibility by the courts.

Michigan State, Texas, Tennessee, Virginia and Houston finished out the first 10, while Louisville, Arkansas, St. John’s, Miami and Gonzaga were next. Michigan, Kansas, Iowa State, Texas Tech and Alabama rounded out the top 20, while the final five in the Top 25 were USC, UCLA, Kentucky, Vanderbilt and BYU.

Kentucky is making its 998th appearance in the poll. Two more weeks and it will be the first to reach 1,000.

(AP Photo Noah Lantor)
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