Here's Sports Illustrated's preseason ranking for Florida basketball

The college basketball season is set to begin and Florida looks to be just outside of Sports Illustrated preseason top 25. SI’s Kevin Sweeney and Molly Geary took on the arduous task of ranking all 358 college basketball teams before play begins on Nov. 9, and Florida lands at No. 38 with an expected sixth-place finish in the Southeastern Conference.

The Gators didn’t receive any votes in either the AP Poll or the Coaches Poll, so these expanded rankings give a better idea of how much ground Florida needs to make up to crack the coveted top 25. At No. 38, the Gators shouldn’t struggle to make the NCAA tournament in March.

Kentucky is the highest-ranked SEC team in Sports Illustrated’s preseason rankings at No. 9. Alabama (No. 15), Arkansas (No. 17) and Tennessee (No. 20) all cracked the top 25, and Auburn finished just outside at No. 27. These five teams have been consistently ranked higher than Florida, but the Gators remain “perennially relevant.”

Florida’s middle-of-the-pack ranking has a lot to do with the new faces on the team. The Gators brought in a ton of transfers and revamped the coaching staff this offseason. Jeremy Woo, who picked Florida to finish sixth in the SEC for Sports Illustrated, thinks the Gators should be competitive with most teams.

Mike White has had success with transfers, and brings in Myreon Jones (Penn State) and CJ Felder (Boston College) to take over for the departed Tre Mann and Scottie Lewis. Colin Castleton came on strong at the end of last season and should be one of the better bigs in the conference. The Gators should be balanced and capable defensively, with enough shooting to hang around on most nights. Freshman wing Kowacie Reeves could play a key role.

Woo also named Castleton to the preseason all-conference first team. There are big expectations for the big man after he decided to return to Florida after flirting with the draft.

Florida beat Embry-Riddle in an exhibition, 80-57, on Monday, but the Gators officially kick the season off on Nov. 9 against Elon at 8 p.m. EDT.

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

--------------------------------

By: David Rosenberg
Title: Here's Sports Illustrated's preseason ranking for Florida basketball
Sourced From: gatorswire.usatoday.com/2021/11/03/florida-basketball-preseason-rankings-sports-illustrated/
Published Date: Wed, 03 Nov 2021 19:20:41 +0000

Read More