The defending national champion Florida Gators men's basketball team is No. 3 in the preseason AP Top 25 poll, which was released today. Purdue and Houston took the top two spots, respectively. UF was one of two SEC teams in the Top 10, with Kentucky checking at No. 9.

Florida is one of six SEC teams to earn a spot in the preseason poll, including UK, Arkansas (14), Alabama (15), Tennessee (18), and Auburn (20).

UF doesn't have as much traditional star power as other top-ranked teams, but head coach Todd Golden returns his leading scorer from last year's title run, Alex Condon, and they will again be favorites to win the SEC. The Gators' depth in scorers and bench production helped fuel their run last year.

The SEC also released its preseason media polls today, including predicted order of finish and preseason All-SEC picks.

UF was picked by writers to win the SEC in 2025-26. It is the third time the Gators have been picked as the preseason favorites, and they went on to win the title in each of the last two such instances, in 2006-07 and 2010-11. Kentucky was picked to finish second this year, while South Carolina was picked to finish last.

UF also had three players earn All-SEC distinction from the votes. Condon was UF's lone first-team pick, while  Thomas Haugh and Boogie Fland both earned second-team honors. 

Reserved season tickets for UF home games are sold out, but limited "Arena Pass" tickets remain that offer rotating seats and select home games. 

Florida opens its season in Las Vegas on Nov. 3, playing Arizona as part of the Hall of Fame Series. The Gators will make their home debut on Nov. 6 against North Florida. Other marquee non-conference matchups include tilts against Florida State, Miami, TCU, Duke and UConn.

First Team All-SEC

• Alex Condon – Florida

• Josh Hubbard – Mississippi State

• Otega Oweh – Kentucky

• Tahaad Pettiford – Auburn

• Labaron Philon Jr. – Alabama

Second Team All-SEC

• Nate Ament – Tennessee

• Boogie Fland – Florida

• Ja'Kobi Gillespie – Tennessee

• Thomas Haugh – Florida

• Mark Mitchell – Missouri

SEC Predicted Order of Finish

1. Florida

2. Kentucky

3. Tennessee

4. Alabama

5. Arkansas

6. Auburn

7. Missouri

8. Ole Miss

9. Texas

10. Mississippi State

11. Vanderbilt

12. Oklahoma

13. Texas A&M

14. Georgia

15. LSU

16. South Carolina