Gators Rise to No. 3 in Newest AP Poll

Monday's ranking is the Gators' highest ranking in over 10 years.

Florida Gators guard Walter Clayton Jr. (1) takes a jump shot as Auburn Tigers take on Florida Gators at Neville Arena in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. Florida Gators lead Auburn Tigers 48-38 at halftime. | Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- The Florida Gators men’s basketball team has now risen to its highest ranking of the season on Monday, being voted No. 3 in the newest AP Top 25. 

This is also the highest ranking for Florida since the 2013-14 season, when the Gators were placed as high as No. 1 on the way to an appearance in the Final Four.

This step forward to No. 3 became possible thanks to a monumental win over the No. 1 team in the country, the Auburn Tigers, on Saturday.  Auburn remained in the top spot in Monday's poll.

Florida began shaky against Auburn, finding itself down 15-5 in the first six minutes. However, the Gators kept its cool and recollected its thoughts to make a quick comeback before halftime hit. By the end of the first 20 minutes, the Gators led by 10 and then never looked back. 

And even though Florida was without starting guard Alijah Martin, head coach Todd Golden had Walter Clayton Jr., a Wooden Award midseason candidate and Bob Cousy Award midseason watch list nominee, back at his disposal. 

Clayton Jr. rained in triple after triple for the Gators in the first half and ended with 16 first half points. Then, he became more of a facilitator in the second half to secure the win, dishing out seven assists.

“The ball was definitely moving around great today,” Clayton Jr. said on his nine assists and the 22 assists overall as a team. “Guys were just hitting shots… That’s good execution on our part, and that’s where a lot of the assists came from.”

Helping Clayton Jr. out in this game were Gators' big men Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh. 

The duo were ever so important in the win over the Tigers as Condon logged another double-double — 17 points, 10 rebounds and four assists — in a SEC game while Haugh stuffed the stat sheet in almost every category — 16 points, nine rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block. 

Florida also took down Vanderbilt earlier in that same week. They beat the Commodores 86-75, and did so without Clayton Jr. So, in their last two games, they’ve been down one of their two best players and still walked out victorious. 

Following these wins over Auburn and Vanderbilt, Florida now travels on Tuesday to Starkville, Miss., to wrestle with the Mississippi State Bulldogs for its second road game in as many games. The Gators will return back to Gainesville on Saturday for a rematch with South Carolina. 

Tuesday's game against the Bulldogs will tip off around 7 p.m. on ESPN2.