Understanding the Hype Around Florida Gators Basketball

This year's pre-season Top 25's have a little more meaning to Florida Gators basketball than recent years.

Florida Gators head coach Todd Golden / Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

In every offseason, college basketball fans and writers alike try their hardest to predict and fantasize about which teams will fall inside the top 25 to begin the year. 

It’s a tradition like no other. 

However, for Florida Gators fans, these lists may have been of lesser value to them in recent memory considering their success, or lack thereof, in basketball over the years. 

Yet this summer looks to be a little different for fans of the Orange & Blue. 

Once the articles started popping up about the “way-to-early top 25,” there became a noticeable difference. This time, the Florida Gators were on them. 

Across three recognized outlets of ESPN, CBS Sports and Fox Sports, Florida’s average placing rounded out at 16th.

ESPN’s Jeff Borzello’s rankings put the Gators at No. 15. 

“Florida struck gold in the portal last spring and has already reeled in three transfers this year. The Gators also have All-American candidate, and one of the nation's top scorers, Walter Clayton Jr. -- if he decides to withdraw from the NBA draft -- and Will Richard is a double-figure scorer,” wrote Borzello on why he has them that high. 

Gary Parrish, of CBS Sports, judged them to be the 20th best team going into next season. 

“This ranking is based on Todd Golden's Gators returning six of the top nine scorers from a team that secured a No. 7 seed in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. The transfer-portal additions of Alijah Martin (FAU) and Sam Alexis (Chattanooga) give Florida a pair of productive mid-major pieces,” wrote Parrish as to why he is high on Florida.  

Lastly, John Fanta, who covers college basketball for Fox Sports, ranked Florida at 14. The highest ranking of the three. 

So, why is there high praise and expectations placed upon this Gator program?

Well, to slightly piggyback off what Borzello and Parrish said, Florida returns many of their key contributors from last season. A season in which they won 24 games, the most since their Elite 8 run in 2016-17 when they won 27. 

Alex Condon, Thomas Haugh and Denzel Aberdeen are guaranteed to return and then predicting that most likely Clayton Jr. (Leading Scorer) and Richard (both have yet to announce their withdrawals from the NBA Draft and return to UF) will return to school as well.

It leaves them at a comfortable floor level to begin next season. 

Then factoring who they brought into the program in the spring transfer window, it makes more sense why they are where they are. 

In this window, they signed Martin, an instant-impact starting guard and leader from the FAU Owls team that went to the Final Four two years ago. 

Alexis, the starting forward from Chattanooga who made third-team All-Southern Conference and All-Defensive teams last year. 

Finally, Rueben Chinyelu, a young center from Washington State who is highly rated defensively to help bolster a team that severely lacked defense all last season and to mitigate the injured Micah Handlogten. 

Are they fairly ranked? Yes, I believe so. 

Could it change from now to when the season starts? Also, yes. 

Nothing is set in stone, especially not a ranking that will change throughout the course of the summer and regular season. A surprise jump to the NBA by Clayton and Richard changes things drastically.

However for now, it does feel the praise for the Gators is justified based on how they've handled their offseason business.